The Only Way Out
by Devious.Intent
Summary: "Why didn't they kill me?" She whispered. No one answered. But that was perhaps because she already knew the answer. She, Serenity, Cosmos, Usagi, whatever you wanted to call her, could not be killed. Not as long as Chaos lived too. Goddess, she'd tried. Warning : Mature content and language. Please read and review!
1. Chapter One : Nothing To Fear

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or Dragon Ball Z. If I did... Serenity and Trunks would be chained to my bed for my amusement. :P**_

_So that you're not confused... this story is a bit AU. It runs along the lines of the DBZ timeline, but while the Buu saga did come to pass, Broly is not involved. None of the Z-warriors can (As of yet in my story) transform to SS3. However they can still fuse. This story starts after two years of peace in the DBZ dimension, and Mirai Trunks has abandoned the barren Earth of his timeline for the alternate timeline he helped to create, after the natural death of Mirai Bulma. Serenity will be about four millenia old, and after spending three millenia as Cosmos, is thrown back into hard battle when Chaos escapes the cauldron. She is outmatched, and nearly dispatched of, when the fates intervene, sending her to the DBZ dimension in a bid to save every dimension after. I hope there's no confusion, but if you have questions, feel free to ask. Oh, and enjoy. :) _

...

**: The Only Way Out :**

**: Chapter One : Nothing to Fear :**

...

She wasn't scared. Fear was something that had escaped her grasp a long time ago. There was nothing left to lose, and therefore, nothing left to be afraid of. The wind was harsh. It whipped her hair in a halo around her face before settling it down her back, only to pick it up again. The smell of pine and river water was sharp in her nose, and though she wished fervently that it didn't, it reminded her of Haruka. Even after all this time, _they_ still came to mind. She was numb to the pain. These days, it was just an ache, distant and cold. A buzz in the back of her brain. There was very little that made her feel alive. Which was why she currently stood on the rail of the tallest bridge she could find, her arm wrapped around one of the tall beams it was made up of. The metal was cool against her pale skin.

This world's inhabitants was so unlike her own. Here, animals spoke. Cars flew. It had been hard to find a bridge, mostly because they weren't needed. As Cosmos, she could not remember ever needing to visit this planet. There was a vague memory, of golden warriors that watched over this dimension. And did quite a good job of it. It was a mixed mass of primitive living and technology that Ami would have killed for. She breathed out slowly. There it was again. The buzzing. Sometimes she could almost hear their voices. She'd known she was far gone when she'd started talking back. But it wasn't like it mattered. 'Koneko?' Her lips curved into a cynical smile.

"You're dead Haruka." She said into the wind, and the voice answered back, so insistent she almost believed it was real.

'Don't do this Koneko... Onegai.' She closed her eyes. For a moment she could almost see her. Her toughest scout. The devilishly beautiful blonde, her ocean blue eyes soft with worry. She breathed out again, and opened her eyes, looking down at the ravenous rapids far below. The River of Sighs, they called it. There was a little sign at the edge of the bridge. She'd wondered why until she stood above it. The sound of the water against the rocks made it seem like the river was alive with hushed breath. How... appropriate. The wind cut through her, and goosebumps raised on her skin without bidding.

"I have to Haruka." She whispered into the empty air. "I have to do this to feel alive." Slowly, she unwrapped her arm from the beam beside her, and raised both hands to the air. "I just want to feel alive. Just for a moment." Feeling burst into her chest, a myriad of colors and shapes that brought warmth to her limbs and made her heart beat like it used to, so long ago. With a smile on her lips that could outshine the sun, she leaned forward, and began to free-fall towards the watery canyon below.

...

He'd flown from the confines of his adopted home mostly because he just needed the time to think. The time to be alone. Capsule Corp was always noisy on the weekend, with Chibi home from school and Goten over to play. It was particularly noisy this weekend, since Krillen and Eighteen had decided to visit with Marron, and she and Bra had just learned how to babble. Goku and Vegeta squabbled every fifteen minutes or so, and Bulma and Chi-Chi mouthed off in the background when they felt like getting involved. It might have been bearable if Gohan was there, but Videl was nearing the end of a tough pregnancy, and they traveled little these days. So he had snuck out while the chatter was at it's peak, and flown off to find some peace and quiet. There was also the issue of his beast. Something only a Saiyan carried. There was little that could calm the rage inside him these days. So when he was feeling particularly restless, the need to run free always won out.

After the death of his mother, there hadn't been much left for him on the barren Earth that could have been. Human life had died out. He figured, the animals could fend for themselves, as they always had. So he'd charged up the time machine one last time, and after burying his mother deep in the blackened Earth, taken a one-way trip back to the past. He'd been welcomed with open arms of course, but it was strange still. To suddenly be a part of the world you'd failed to save. To integrate into something you'd only dreamed of. Surreal and disturbing as much as it was joyous.

He'd been so lost in his thoughts he almost didn't see her. But the rays of the sun caught the silver of her hair, and sparkled in the corner of his vision. Strange, he thought idly. There was never anyone out here. It was why he flew over this specific piece of Earth so often. Once Bulma had distributed her hover cars, asphalt roads had become obsolete. This had been a highway, built over the largest river in this corner of the world. It was cracked and abandoned now, but beautiful to look at. He flew ever closer, with his eyes on the petite girl.

She stood upon the railing of the forgotten bridge, one arm wrapped around a metal beam. The whipping winds made it hard to hear, but he thought perhaps her voice drifted over, soft and sweet. Funny, because there was no one to talk to. Just her lone frame, perched above the canyon the river had carved. Her hair was long, tendrils of silver that flew about her like silk, so much of it that it obscured the clothing she wore. His heart began to beat faster in his chest as she moved her arm from the beam, and raised both hands to the sky. _She wouldn't_. Her body slowly tipped forward, and he put on speed as her feet left the bridge. _She would._

By the time his arms wrapped around her waist and grasped firmly, she had fallen so low that the spray from the rapids licked his bare arms, and dusted across his gi, dampening them both. She was slack in his arms, and it seemed as if she'd lost consciousness on the way down. He hugged her to his chest, letting her feet dangle between his as he landed softly beside the river. She was shorter than him by half a foot, so even when his feet set down on the moist ground, her weight was still his to carry. He was mildly surprised when he looked down into startling eyes of grey. It was a shade he'd never seen, like the coming of a storm tinged with starlight. Then reality struck. This girl had just tried to kill herself. And he'd be damned if he wasn't going to find out why. There was an immediate response from the beast inside of him, a reaction he'd never had before.

"What were you thinking?" He felt his anger rise a notch when her full, pink lips curved into a smirk.

"Certainly not that I'd be saved by a flying man." He realized, suddenly, with her voice in his ear and her face so close her breath ghosted across his skin, that he was still hugging her to his chest, and let go, taking a step back. The beast inside him snorted, miffed at the separation, but he ignored it. She stumbled for a second, dropped abruptly to her feet, but steadied with cat-like grace. "Shot down again." It was a mumble, mostly to herself, but his ears were sharp. Being half-saiyan had it's perks.

"Shot down?" She looked shocked that he had heard, but not disturbed. She was quiet, complacent. "Listen, there's never any good reason to try to kill yourself..." She cut him off with a laugh, and he snapped without meaning to. "I'm serious. You would have died if you hit the water at that speed." She looked thoughtful for a moment, surveying him with soft eyes, and though the anger at her indifference still boiled in him, he couldn't help thinking how sad, and beautiful she looked. Her skin was pale like milk, and now that he stood before her he could see she wore tight, dark blue leggings under a long white tank-top. The straps dangled off each shoulder, showing the tone to her arms. She was certainly not as frail as she looked. She felt solid. His beast growled. Her voice snapped him from his inspection, and he found himself blushing as if he'd done something wrong.

"You're sweet." She said softly. He blushed harder, but she either didn't notice, or didn't care. "But you needn't worry about me." Then she did the last thing he expected. She simply disappeared. His eyes scanned the area, narrowed and wary. But there was no sign, no signature, no evidence at all but for the faint scent of cherry blossoms on his skin. He realized now, that he had never felt any energy from her. He stood there for a long moment, perplexed, and half-expecting an attack from behind, but it never came. The beast inside him snapped at his cage, but he ignored it. The anger would not help, right now.

With his bid for peace and quiet completely disrupted, he shot up from the damp river bank, and began his search for the mysterious girl, shaking his head. He might not be able to sense her, but she couldn't have gotten far. She was a questionable presence that could not be ignored.

...

She watched him from the cover of the trees. For a moment, he looked simply confused. When the confusion had left his eyes however, he looked angry and wary. She hadn't meant to do that. Anger him, put him on edge. She simply wanted to be left alone. She sighed, and the buzz in the back of her head took the form of Rei's voice. 'Good going Odango. He was just trying to save your life.'

"What's left of it." She said solemnly, too put off to argue with her imagination. Sighing, she looked up into the dense foliage of the pines above her. Her crescent had dissipated. That, and the eight-pointed star she had worn as Cosmos. She barely knew who she was anymore. It had only been a few weeks since the fates had sent her here. Sent her here because she had failed, and her own world was nothing but dust. A memory of a memory. 'It's not your fault.' Mina's voice said, so soft it was half words and half soothing hum. "Yes." She whispered. "It is." And no imaginary voice, no one at all, could tell her it wasn't. She had failed to seal Chaos a second time, with all the power in her veins. Had failed to save the lives of millions, trillions maybe. By now, the dimension she had left behind was probably a memory too. Her memory alone. For the first day, that thought was what had kept her alive. But then the guilt set in. The numbing pain. "Why didn't they kill me?" She whispered. No one answered. But that was perhaps because she already knew the answer. She, Serenity, Cosmos, Usagi, whatever you wanted to call her, could not be killed. Not as long as Chaos lived too. Goddess, she'd tried.

In the past few weeks, she'd slit her wrists, broken most of her bones, and set herself aflame. The pain was real, intense, over bearing. But death never came. Her skin would stitch back together, her blood would stop it's flow, and she'd wake again, every time. The bridge had been a bid to see if drowning would work. But she'd been thwarted by the mysterious flying stranger. She debated trying again, and decided she'd drawn too much attention to herself as it was. She had decided, when the fates had shipped her to this dimension, that condemning herself to solitude was her best option. Because one day, when he found the means, Chaos would come for his other half, and she'd lose this world too. This, and every other after, until one finally killed the other. The yin and yang of the multi-verse, they were doomed to battle forever. Or die together. "What a crappy destiny." She said aloud sourly.

'You will prevail Usa-mama.' Hotaru's voice insisted. She sighed. "Shut up Hota, dear." She whispered, her heart tight in her chest and her brain so frazzled that her vision threatened to go black. "You're dead."

...

"Do you think we're being too cruel?" The woman beside her sighed, and brushed long tendrils of dark hair from her eyes.

"Does it matter? We have no choice." The woman on the other side of her chuckled humorlessly, pushing herself to her feet and turning away from the image of the petite silver-haired girl before them.

"That's a first, for sure."

"We never should have created them." The first woman said, sounding sad and somber.

"Again, we had no choice. The Multi-verse needed balance, and we all agreed what should be done. One soul made two. We've been no more cruel to her than we have to him."

The last woman's disdain was clear in the tone of her voice. "I tire of this game. Be rid of them both and create new ones."

"You know as well as we all do that's not possible. We cannot touch them. This, we agreed upon too. We can hope they will merge, and fix the mess we've made."

"And if they don't?" The sad voice asked, worry evident in her icy blue eyes.

"Then our dear sister will have the joy of helping us create a brand new game, with brand new players. Serenity has lost her will. She cannot kill him. But as long as Chaos is allowed to roam free, death will follow."

The first woman sighed again, and focused her eyes on the swirling image of Serenity before her. "So we just watch?" She asked, and the woman beside her nodded.

"Yes. We watch and pray we've not condemned her soul too."

"Pray to who?" The third sister asked snidely, from her position feet away.

"To whoever will listen."

...

Everything was barren, and he was bored. This dimension had proven too easy to destroy once Serenity had been whisked away. By the fate's hand no doubt. They and Serenity were the only beings who could cross dimensions indefinitely, and he knew the Queen of the Cosmos would not have left him to his devices had she the choice. He was still reveling in the look on her face when he'd obliterated Earth. But he wished he could have seen the sorrow in her eyes when she saw her entire dimension destroyed. It was a lot less fun when he didn't have her pain to soak in.

So what to do? "Hanna." The minion he called appeared before him in a flurry of red sparkles. He frowned in distaste, but didn't comment. He'd created her with a bit of free will because free-thinking had proved useful to him more than once. He was beginning to remember why he usually strayed from such acts. It mattered little. He was at least careful enough to make sure he could crush her if she ever displeased him.

"Yes Master?" Her voice at least, was pleasing, soft and sure. Like hers. He frowned without meaning to.

"There is only one way I can travel to find my dear Queen." He said slowly, and she followed his lips with her red eyes. Ever vigilant. Despite the red sparkles, he almost liked Hanna. She was one of his favorites. He hoped she survived his new task.

"And that is, my Lord?" He beckoned her closer, and she immediately obeyed, stepping up to the throne he had created for himself. It was wrought of twisted metal and hard obsidian, the remains of worlds he'd blown to bits. All that was left was this lonely black star they inhabited. All that survived was he, and the beings he had created with bits of himself. When she was close enough, he grabbed her arms hard, and pulled her to his lap, wrapping his legs around her waist as he forced her to kneel between them. Her long, jet black hair pooled over his lap in soft waves, and he looked down at her full red lips. She trembled, but whether it was fear or anticipation he could not be sure, Nor did he truly care.

Hanna was special. She always had been. Only she and one other minion had the power she had. The power, with his donation, to create. Without Serenity's aid, or that of the fates, he only had enough power to open a portal to the next dimension. After it was open, he'd have no energy to throw himself through and be prepared for battle on the other side. Being away from her made him weak, as much as he hated to admit it. He saw that now. But perhaps Hanna was made tough enough to make the journey for him. Once a piece of him was close enough to his other half, his power would grow.

"You will carry a piece of me there." He growled, and crushed his lips to hers. He decided, when she responded with fervor, that her trembling had been in anticipation. Even with her bit of free will, Hanna lived to serve. He'd ground that much into her, and he would grind more, as he infused the bit of his soul he would send on this journey. He might even like it. Hell, he was bored enough that she might like it too.

...

She shivered. The nights were chilly here, but the cold would not kill her. Nothing could, it seemed. Nothing but him. There were moments when she pined for him, in a morbid way. But she knew too, that her death would never come by his hand. He'd said it himself, face pressed closed to hers after he'd destoyed her home. Not until he'd obliterated every last life, Just to see the pain in her eyes, would he end it. It was why the fates had whisked her away.

Something had died inside her as she watched the pieces of her world float away into space. She'd lost her fight. And he would have won, had they not intervened. But she saw little reason for doing so. That piece that had died with Earth was gone. Her will was broken. The fates had only delayed the inevitable. Foolish women. Why they'd created her in the first place she'd never know. Why they created him... a bigger mystery. They'd caused nothing but strife, started a war to be fought across worlds that were innocent and clueless. An endless battle across time. 'You are strong enough.' Makoto's voice said in her ear. She turned, but there was nothing there.

"I am talking to souls who've been dead for three millenia because my mind has come unglued." She said aloud. "And they expect me to win. I'm crazier than Chaos is."

'You're not like him. We always believed in you. We still do.' Chibi's voice said at her right. She hugged her knees to her chest and laid her head atop them, staring into the darkness of the forest she'd wandered into for the night. The trees were so dense she could not see the sky. "I don't see why." She whispered.

'You will Mama.' Chibi's voice said. 'You will.'

...

He'd searched for hours. But the girl was nowhere to be found. It had taken him longer to get back to Capsule Corp than he'd anticipated, and the light was draining from the sky. He supposed it had been a long time since he'd flown in that direction, and it was farther from home than he remembered. Or maybe it was all the thoughts swimming in his head that had slowed him down. Could the petite girl that he'd saved from death really be a threat? Besides to herself? Or had she merely been a mirage? It's not as if he didn't come unglued from time to time. Things like that happened when your whole world was destroyed. When you were forced to watch your loved ones die in front of your eyes. But she had felt real. Smelled real. Her scent still lingered on his clothing. At the very least, once he had put some distance between them, his beast had calmed. He could see the outlines of the huge compound Bulma had built in the distance, lit by perimeter lights. He slowed in his indecision.

Should he put his new family on alert, worry them in such a happy time, over a girl he knew nothing about? A girl who had only been trying to end it all? Bigger problems had come from smaller decisions. But she didn't seem threatening. Mysterious, yes. But there was no fight in her eyes. She just looked... lost. There was no reason to worry his friends just yet. But tomorrow, he planned to go looking again for the silver-haired masochist. Because he had to know what she was all about. Whether for the safety or his world, or the affirmation of his sanity. With resolve in his decision, he sped up, and flew home.

...

_**So ends the first chapter of The Only Way Out. Will Trunks find the mysterious Serenity before she succeeds in her bid for death? Can she even die at all? How long until Chaos finds his way to the world of the golden warriors and his ultimate prize... Serenity's entrapment? To find out you'll have to read on... And please don't forget to review!  
**_


	2. Chapter Two : Kill Me

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or Dragon Ball Z... But if I did.. Oh the trouble I'd get into. :P**_

...

**: The Only Way Out :**

**: Chapter Two : Kill Me :**

...

It was morning. She felt like she hadn't slept, even though she knew there was a space of darkness between then, and now. Her limbs ached from sitting in the same position all night, knees curled to her chest to fend off the cold. It mattered little. The ache would be gone soon. All her physical pain melted away sooner or later. She stood slowly and stretched, and her eyes flickered to the left at a soft sound. "You." She whispered, mildly surprised. There stood the very man who'd appeared from the sky and saved her from her 'fatal' fall. He looked smug. She imagined he was proud he'd found her. But then, she hadn't really been hiding.

"Yes. Me." She decided she liked the timbre of his voice. There was a tone beneath it that spoke of something familiar. The buzz in the back of her head formed words, but she ignored them blatantly. Now was not the time. Thwarted, the words turned to static. She winced without meaning to. "Are you alright?" She looked him up and down with careful eyes, and her lips turned up in a small smile out of habit. He was well built, a statuesque frame layered with tanned skin and a black, sleeveless gi. A sword hung on his back. Something she hadn't noticed on his person yesterday. His hair was long, and tied back in a ponytail, and unusual lavender color. A few strands escaped to frame his face, and his eyes, they were ice blue, deep, wise, and worried. Worry. Something she hadn't seen shining in anyone's eyes for a long time. Not for her. It stirred something in her she didn't know how to name. "Hey..."

Her eyes snapped to his. For a moment, she'd forgotten he was there. "I'm fine." She said softly, because he was expecting the answer, not because she actually believed it. He processed her answer slowly, and then spoke again.

"You don't look fine." As he spoke, he took careful steps towards her, as if she were a deer, ready to bolt at any moment. It was mildly amusing. Did she looks so frail now? Perhaps. It had been a long time since she'd eaten anything. In fact, she couldn't remember the last time she ate. It seemed starvation would not kill her either. But she'd known that. Cosmos did not need to eat. But was that even who she was anymore?

He searched her eyes too late to see her next move. She shifted through the space between them with ease, weakened as she was, and pulled the sword he carried from it's sheath, pressing it to his neck and wrapping one thin arm around his shoulder from behind. She could smell the blood she drew, sharp and metallic. Not nearly enough to harm him. That wasn't her intention anyways. "You shouldn't ever let your guard down. Not even for what looks like a little girl." His body was tense, and she could feel which way his muscles were going to shift before it was done. She leapt backwards and flipped, landing in a crouch with his sword gripped in her right hand. She smiled at his defensive stance.

"Who are you?" He growled, and she was admittedly impressed at the sudden jump in his energy. His aura glew like a thousand suns, so bright it blurred the edges of him. So she had been right. This was the planet where the golden warriors resided. Perhaps the fates were making a bid on their strength. How predictably unfair of them. To drag them into a war that was not their own. To hide her on their planet, so peaceful and beautiful. The familiarity of the situation was like a punch in the gut. It was actually physically painful. She winced, and it gave the mysterious stranger the opening he needed. She found herself suddenly encased in his arms, his sword slack, though still in her grip, her arms forced to her sides. "I'll ask again." He growled in her ear, and though she bid her body not to respond, goosebumps raised on her arms. It had been a long time since she'd been so close she could feel a heartbeat. And this man had managed to get this close twice, in barely twelve hours. "Who are you?"

The power in his veins was like a hum in her ears. His skin was like fire. He was on the verge of something akin to her own transformation, a burst of power that would turn him into something else. Something brighter. She didn't sugarcoat it. Because she had a plan. Perhaps this man was just strong enough. Just strong enough to end the cycle. She just had to push him to it. "If you don't find a way to kill me." She whispered, "Or let me do it myself, I am the end of everything you care about." His arms tightened around her, and forced the breath from her lungs. The pain was new, fresh. It was in these moments that she felt the most alive. Her heart beat with his, a steady energetic hum, and she felt the crazed smirk touch her lips instead of consciously putting it there. Something snapped. She forced herself not to cry out. Not to give him any reason to stop. Then all she knew was darkness.

...

He'd broken both of her arms. The rage in him was not something he could always control, especially when his friends and family were involved, and she had made a threat, however puzzling. Once he had calmed the beast inside him, and he'd laid her prone and broken body on the forest floor, his thoughts cleared. What enemy asked for death? She might not have the physical strength he had, and looked frail and underfed, but her speed outdid his without transforming. He'd been about to, until she'd shown a moment of weakness, and he'd found his opening. Or had she given it to him? She moaned in her unconsciousness, and guilt and anger blossomed in his chest. Who was she, to make him the device of her demise? He should have let her jump off the damned bridge.

He sighed, and kneeled beside her, looking over her arms. The left was at an odd angle, and the bruises were immediate, dark purple and blood red, where vessels had broken beneath the skin. They looked ugly on her pale skin. The right was bruised too, but not so cleanly broken. She hadn't even fought the pain. Had not cried out or struggled to get away. "Stupid girl." He said aloud, though it was obvious she could not hear him. "There's never a reason to want death so badly." He returned his sword to it's sheath, and with hands that were careful this time, he scooped her up Princess style. It was time to introduce the silver-haired masochist to the family. At the very least, he hoped Goku would know what to do. He always knew what to do. He tried to ignore the purr of his beast, delighted at the feel of the girl in his grasp.

With his heart heavy and his mind frazzled, he started the journey home, slower this time, so not to jar the broken body in his arms.

...

He was tired. Infusing Hanna with enough of himself to count had taken a lot out of him. He needed time to restore himself before he could open a portal to the next dimension. No matter. He had all the time in the world. He looked down at Hanna's prone body, and smirked. She was rather pleasing to look at naked. Her tanned skin was flawless, and her breasts rose and fell with each breath. She too, was spent. But he was satisfied to see she had survived. He'd pushed a larger piece of himself into the fabric of her than he'd ever managed before. It would do. As long as she survived the trip he planned to send her on. He hoped she did. He was loathe to try, but there was one other he could send, should this plan fail. Hanna was a lovely slave... but the other, the only other who could create. She was his most favorite.

Sighing, he leaned back on his throne, pleased with himself. In a few weeks time he'd be closer to his prize. His Queen. "I'm coming for you Serenity." He said to the empty air. "You can't escape your other half for long."

...

"Mirai. What in the world..?" Bulma was standing outside when he landed, her blue eyes wide and worried when she saw what he carried. The guilt was like a stone in his chest. This was not going to be an easy one to explain. "What happened?"

"I did." He said moodily. Bulma's eyes snapped to his in shock, and if he could have he would have rubbed his head in Goku fashion. At the moment all he could do was lower his eyes, and mumble an explanation. "I saved her from jumping off a bridge yesterday. But afterwards, she dis-appeared. So I went looking, yesterday, and today. She attacked me. This was the result." It was an easy enough explanation. And Bulma knew better than most the power of a Saiyan. The power of their beast. He'd left some details out for sure. But he needed more answers from the prone girl before he spilled every secret to his adopted family. So far all he'd gotten out of her was severe death wish and a few sad smiles.

"_She _attacked you?" Bulma sounded skeptical, so he just shrugged, and bend his head back so she could see the thin line of blood painting his neck. The woman looked suddenly somber. She knew him well enough to know he wasn't lying, at least. He was after-all, in some strange way, her own son.

"She's fast. Not fast enough." He said gruffly. He left out the fact that had she wanted to, the frail girl probably could have opened his jugular. "Bulma, I need more answers from her. She's got a non-existent energy signature, but she bested me for a moment. I almost had to go Super Saiyan just to pin her down. I don't want to chance not knowing where she came from. Or why she's here. Please." Bulma nodded.

"Best get her inside before your father sees her." She said softly, brushing a few strands of light blue hair behind her ears. "You won't get answers at all if he gets to her first. Once she's stabilized and detained though, I suggest you let the others know." He nodded, and fell in step behind the young version of his Mother. It was unnerving that she called Vegeta his father, but he chose to let it go. She was sweet in that way. Since the moment he'd returned to the past, she'd adopted him as her oldest son. He still couldn't call her Mother. His mother was dead. "Door Open." She said when she reached the room she'd intended.

He laid her down carefully on a hospital bed, after they'd gone inside and traversed the wide halls of Capsule Corp, and stepped back as Bulma worked her magic. He winced when the resounding crack of her bone being reset echoed through the white room, but the girl did little more than scrunch her face, before settling it again passively. When Bulma had finished, by attaching a monitor to the girl's chest, she turned to look at him. "I made this room strong enough to keep your Father in." She said with a smirk. "You know how hard it is to get him to relax." She walked past him, pausing when she was beside him, but not looking at his face. "You only have to tell it to open. It's voice coded, and I added you months ago." She whispered, as if the prone girl would be disturbed by her voice. "I'll let everyone know you have to talk to them." She patted his shoulder softly, and stepped out, the door closing automatically behind her at the sound of her voice. "Door Close."

He smiled. Bulma wasn't his mother. She was Chibi's. But there was nothing about her that changed. She was still the same woman who'd raised him. The only human ever to tame a true Saiyan. The King of them, in fact. He walked up to the bed and looked down on the girl who'd given him so much trouble, rubbing the small cut at his neck. It was beginning to itch. He sighed, and turning around, walked to the doorway. "Door open." He grumbled, exiting the small room with heavy shoulders and a heavy heart. It was time to inform the Z-Warriors of their new visitor. "Door Close."

...

Her heartbeat was slowing. Which meant that the adrenaline she so desired, was draining from her system, and soon, her body would knit itself back together. It took a moment for her to gather her thoughts, to remember what had happened to put her in this condition, and open her eyes. There had been another heartbeat here... along with the lavender haired man, but it was so distant now she couldn't locate it.

Everything was white. She hissed aloud as she brought her hand to her head. Her arm had been reset, and wrapped with thin gauze. The skin beneath it itched and bubbled before settling, and she pulled the gauze off just in time to see the bruises fade into nothingness. There was a tingle in her chest, her lungs repairing themselves, and she took a deep breath that only hurt for a moment. The room she was in was empty and quiet. He must have brought her here.

Pity he didn't just rip her to pieces. She wondered vaguely if even that would kill her. Would it work if the pieces were separated.. unable to stitch back together? 'When did you give up?' Michiru 's voice asked.

"When I realized my life was the only thing standing between war and peace." She said softly aloud, before thinking about it. She _really _needed to stop bantering with the voices in her head. She blinked to clear her cloudy vision, and moved her legs carefully to the side of the bed. They proved weaker than she thought, and she winced when she tumbled to the cold floor. The room had no windows. And only one door, that looked to be locked with some kind of keypad. Whatever it was made out of dampened her senses. There was no color here, and no noise but that of the monitor next to her bed, and the faint sound of heartbeats.

This room couldn't detain her. Not when she could teleport. But she had no want to leave it just yet. The man with the power to break her arms so easily had a chance at saving everything he loved. If he could figure out a way to keep her dead before Chaos found her. She was content to stay, for now. She thought about climbing back onto the bed, but found she didn't have the energy. Healing always tired her out. So instead, she laid her head on the cool floor, her hair splayed about her, and closed her eyes. 'You're stronger than this Usako.' Mamoru's voice buzzed.

"Leave me alone." She whined softly into her hair. "You're dead Mamo. You're all dead and gone."

...

"So where is she?" Eighteen asked. Bulma answered the question for him.

"In the compound. Detained." She said, and he smirked at the answer. It was just vague enough to keep the Warriors from searching for her just yet. Vegeta looked antsy for a fight, but he knew he was loathe to search every room in the vast Capsule Corporation.

"She said what again?" Goku asked. He would have sighed, if he wasn't so used to repeating himself for the older Saiyan.

"That if I didn't kill her, she'd be the end of everything I cared about." He said, his voice gruff.

"So why didn't you kill her?" Vegeta asked. He turned narrowed eyes towards his father. His beast raised it's hackles, and he forced the feeling back down. He'd expected this too. Thankfully, Krillen saved him from saved him from saying anything in anger.

"I think Mirai has the right idea here." He said, rubbing his hand through his hair. His vision turned towards Marron and Bra... who were exploring a tree trunk not far from where they were standing. Chibi and Goten had wanted to be a part of the conversation, but Vegeta had shooed them away with a hard look and demanded they keep an eye on 'the smaller brats'. They were currently perched in the high branches of the tree. Everyone was however, painfully aware that they were listening in. Saiyan ears were hard to anything get past. "We've gotten in trouble before by shooting first and asking questions later. What if she's not the only one of her kind?"

"It's possible. Seeing as we can't read her energy signature. There could be more anywhere." Goku said, suddenly serious. "Mirai, you did the right thing."

He sighed. It wasn't that he needed Goku's approval, but it helped to hear. "So what's our next move?" He asked, and everyone seemed at a loss for words, trapped in their own thoughts.

Vegeta was the first to speak. "We train." He said, uncrossing his arms and calling behind him. "Come brats." He yelled, and Chibi and Goten appeared from the branches of the tree, looking sheepish. "Kakarrot, you too."

Goku nodded, and looked at Bulma, who guessed what he was about to ask, and answered accordingly. "I'll put Marron and Bra down for a nap. Chi-Chi, if you would be so kind as to start dinner? And Mirai, why don't you call Gohan and tell him what's going on?"

He nodded, and followed her to the tree, picking Bra up in his arms as Chi-Chi headed for the kitchen. She giggled, and he smirked down at her as the rest of the Z-Warriors flew off to the gravity machine and the training area around it. He winced as Bra grabbed a handful of hair in her chubby hand, and followed Bulma, with Marron in tow, inside. Just as they entered the door that led to the main part of the house, Bulma's watch suddenly started beeping furiously. She looked at the watch, then at him, ocean blue on ice.

"It says her heart stopped. Mirai..." He was moving before she ended her sentence, handing Bra off with quick hands and tugging his hair from her hold as gently as he could, and flying down the labyrinth of hallways to the room she was housed in. He was mildly surprised when he reached the door, and speaking a fast 'Door Open', it opened to reveal her lying on the floor of the room, looking up at him with cold grey eyes.

"I didn't like the machine." She said softly. He walked into the room and looked around. It was only then that he saw the unraveled gauze, lying on the bed, and the soft, unmarked skin where her broken bones had been less than twenty minutes ago. She seemed to guess what he was thinking. "And you'd do best not to waste medical supplies on me." He kneeled down, but she did not move anything but her eyes, looking up at him. Her voice was muffled by the crook of her arm she was leaning her chin on, and the cascades of her long silver hair, but it was flat, and monotone.

"I thought you were dead." He said, and she smiled. He was beginning to see that it never reached her eyes, and seemed to be merely out of habit.

"You'd be better off if I was." She said quietly, with the smile still dancing on her lips. "Admittedly, I'm hard to kill. Even I seem to have trouble with it." She seemed to be lost in her own thoughts for a moment, but then spoke again, her voice still soft and flat. "What's your name?"

For a moment he debated on giving her a name at all, but figured there was no harm in doing so. "For all intents and purposes, you can call me Mirai. You never gave me you name."

"For all intents and purposes, you can call me Serenity." She said softly. She did not mock him. She looked like the name hurt her, for she winced when she said it, but the weakness was gone as soon as it came. "I can make this simple for you, you know. Kill me, and your world, your whole dimension, will be spared from the man who's looking for me."

"Is that why you want to die so badly?" He asked, genuinely surprised. She narrowed her eyes at him, and he saw emotion there for the first time. Anger, a bit of annoyance. Sadness that was so deep there was no end.

"You don't get it." She said, and there was emotion in her voice too. She raised her head higher, leaning on her arms as she spoke. "My home, all of my people, an entire dimension was blasted to nothingness in his pursuit of my power. He won't rest until he has me in his grasp, and then he will spend the rest of eternity making me watch him destroy everything. Until there is nothing left. Kill me, or accept that when he finds me, you and your friends will die. Everything around me dies."

"There has to be another way." He said, and she shook her head, lying her chin back into the crook of her arm.

"There is no other way." She whispered.

"We can protect you. You don't know how strong we are." She chuckled humorlessly.

"Yes, I do. The golden warriors of this dimension are impressive indeed. And the power you can hide... I must say I am impressed. It was why I've never had to come this way before. But trying to save me will get you killed too." She seemed thoughtful for a moment, then turned her eyes up to him, locking his vision with hers. "Talk to Dende. That's his name now, isn't it? Your guardian."

"I don't see how..." She cut him off, sounding exasperated.

"Talk to Dende. He'll tell you what I say is true." He stood, because he was annoyed, and angered. Their conversation had led nowhere, and his frustration was building. His beast was getting harder to control around her. There was something about her that made it rage at her sight. He hit the code to open the door, but paused as her voice drifted to his ears one last time. "I can see the destruction in your eyes. You know what it's like, to lose it all. And you survived."

"So did you." He said without turning. He could hear the dead smile in her voice. Her lips curving changed her tone slightly.

"If you could sacrifice your life to save trillions... would you? Be honest Mirai." He turned to look at her, but her eyes were closed.

"Yes."

"I missed my chance before. I will not miss it again. Stop looking at me like I'm a broken puppy, and find a way to grant my wish." He turned on his heel and stormed out then, because with an answer like that, there was nothing more to say. The door closing behind him was a lonely, empty sound. His beast crooned, a low howl in the back of his brain. He thought he heard her whisper after it locked, but he couldn't be sure. Something along the lines of 'Be quiet, You're dead.'

...

He was still angry when he got back downstairs, and he met Bulma in the hallway. He'd almost forgotten she still thought the girl was dead. He took a deep breath to shake the rage from his core, and explained. "She took the monitor off." He said, but his voice came out gruffer than he meant it to.

Bulma looked relieved, and curious. "Did she say anything?"

"To speak to Dende." He said, ""That he would confirm her story, and we'd be no less than forced to comply."

"Comply with what?" She asked, and he sighed.

"With killing her." Bulma managed to look surprised and thoughtful at the same time.

"She is persistent." She said. "But you can't just kill her..."

"She seems to think there is no other way. There's a man she says, coming here to find her. She insists that her death will keep him from taking any more lives. Not that she'd be easy to kill anyways."

"What?" Bulma asked, and he looked at her, his eyes hard and his voice serious.

"Her arms are healed. It's like I never touched her at all. For someone like her to be so insistent upon her own death... If she's not lying, whoever this man is, he's responsible for the deaths of trillions of people. Whole planets." He sighed. His head hurt. "Keep her in the room for now. I'm going to talk to Dende." Bulma nodded, crossing her arms as he turned away. She always took things in stride. It was how they handled things, in a situation like theirs. Sometimes, no matter how crazy things were, you just had to roll with them.

"I'll let the others know where you've gone. You should stop and tell Gohan what's going on too. Be back for dinner!" She called at his back, he nodded, and continued on his way.

...

Mirai's heartbeat had gone so far she could not hear it anymore. It had a distinct beat, a thump that was strong and true. He might not like it, but if it came down to her life, or his family's... he would make the right choice. In the meantime though, left to her own devices, she was ready to try her way one more time.

There wasn't alot left in her subspace pocket. Not nearly as much as there had been, three millenia ago. She was left with the sword of Uranus, Mercury's computer, Saturn's scythe, and a hunting knife that had belonged to Mamoru's father. This, she treasured most. She was hesitant to use it for her means, because she felt it tainted the memory, but perhaps it was time to look past this. Weeks ago, she had used Uranus' sword to slit her wrists. It still had dried blood on the blade. She pulled the hunting knife into existence, and pulled it from it's worn leather sheath, still lying on the cold floor. The blade looked sharp, and shone as new as the day Mamo had given it to her. The sub-space pocket was good for such things. The items she stored there could not be touched by time. She tested it with a finger, watching the blood well as it bit through her flesh, and the skin beneath it close back up immediately.

She sighed in the room, undecided. How to do this? She hadn't tried stabbing herself in the heart. It had killed her once, however long ago. It was worth a try. She turned over, hands shaking as she positioned the blade over her chest, and not giving herself time to think on it, shoved down as hard as she could. The pain was so intense she cried out involuntarily, and then the blackness was fast and absolute.

...

_**Has Serenity finally succeeded? And though the dashing Trunks is fighting to find a better way.. would it be so bad? To find out you have to wait for the next chapter of The Only Way Out. Remember to review!**_


	3. Chapter Three : Unbreakable

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or Dragon Ball Z... Go on, try to sue. I think I have a handful of change and a sticky, dirty lollipop in my purse. (Courtesy of my two year old.)**_

...

**: The Only Way Out :**

**: Chapter Three : Unbreakable :**

...

Kami's lookout was far, but he put on the speed to get there, and it had taken far less time than he'd thought it would. He could see Dende and Piccolo standing on the balcony of the tall structure. No doubt they had sensed him and were awaiting his arrival. His landing echoed. All the sound in this place was strange. "Hey."

"Mirai." Dende said, with a smile. "What brings you here?"

"I'm afraid it's not a social call." He said wryly, and Dende nodded.

"It rarely is. Please, come sit." Piccolo nodded at him, and he nodded back in hello, before speaking again.

"I'm in a bit of a rush." he said quickly. "My apologies. But I was told to speak to you about someone who I met, recently. To be truthful she's locked in Capsule Corp right now. Her name is Serenity."

Dende's eyes widened, and Piccolo looked just as surprised. "You mean to say you have Cosmos, the Queen of Stars locked in a room?"

"The Queen of Stars?" He asked.

"There is only one Serenity." Piccolo said. "The being of light. She is gentle, by nature. I had wondered who this earth was calling to so loudly. The stories of her might did not lie. But she is hard to trace indeed. Is there a reason you have her locked away?"

"She attacked me, in a bid to get me to kill her." Piccolo looked at Dende, who spoke again, almost to himself.

"Kill her? Then Chaos must have escaped the cauldron. I was not even aware of her presence. Did she say Chaos was here too?"

"No. Only that he's coming for her. Forgive me Dende, but she's done little more than tell me her death would solve our problem. Care to elaborate?"

"I'll give you the short story, since you're in a rush. There were two beings created four millenia ago. One dark, and one light. Serenity, and Chaos. They were supposed to hold the balance in the world. But Chaos' hate for his situation led him to eat away at everything around him. Forced into action, Serenity sealed him away in the space between dimensions. She wandered the stars after this, for three millenia, until now. She and Chaos are nearly indestructible, especially together. But kill one, and the other will whither away. I have not met her myself, but there are many stories of her kindness, and her strength. As well as stories of Chaos' ill deeds. From what I hear, she would not fear taking her own life to save others. It is curious, however, how she ended up in this dimension."

"She said her home was gone. Her entire dimension laid to waste. She said, she missed her chance before, and would not miss it again." Mirai said, and Dende sighed.

"She is determined then." He said. "There is not much you can do when the Queen of Stars has an idea in her head."

"So there is no other way?" Mirai asked, frustrated. Dende shook his head.

"Chaos' power is absolute. There has never been another made like he and Serenity. Him coming here, would be catastrophic. However, I must admit I am loathe to let Serenity have her way. Even a Kai cannot match her power. I can't give you counsel on this one." He said seriously. "This is up to the warriors of this world. There are only two choices. Kill Serenity, if at all possible, and be rid of Chaos too. Or stand and fight beside her when he finally arrives."

"What would you do Piccolo?" Mirai asked, and Piccolo looked grave for a moment before answering.

"In any other case I would say kill the woman and be done with it. But Dende is right. There is no being in the world like her. To kill her with your hands would be a travesty. I would fight."

"Arigato." Mirai said. "You've been lots of help. I have to get to Gohan now, and inform him of what's going on."

"Good luck Mirai." Piccolo said sincerely, and he didn't know why, but hearing that spill from the tough Namekian's mouth made his insides turn. "Should you need us, call, and we will come."

"We'll be watching." Dende said. "I wish I could offer the hyperbolic time chamber, but as you know it is still beyond repair. We will do what we can to aid you. Should this come to battle, it will not be easy."

"It never is." Mirai said, and saluted the both of them. "I'll keep in touch." And then he shot off the edge of the lookout, heading straight down. He had a strange feeling in his chest, that would not go away. He needed to talk to Gohan, and get back to the girl Dende and Piccolo revered as the Queen of Stars.

...

There had been muffled noise coming from the room their new guest was housed in, but it stopped just as soon as it started, and Bulma thought better of entering alone. She knew little of the girl that Mirai had brought into their midst, but if she was fast enough to best a saiyan, she had no chance at keeping her still. It was safer, this way. Besides, the room was barren but for the monitor she'd removed. There was no possible way for the girl to hurt herself. Not that it seemed to matter, since the girl had a healing rate that rivaled senzu beans. She shrugged, and continued down the hallway, back down the stairs and towards the kitchen. There were lovely smells coming from it, and as she rounded the corner she glimpsed Chi-Chi, sleeves rolled up as she stirred a large pot of stew, almost as big as she was. The whole crew took a lot to feed, when they were gathered together. She'd have to remember to tell one of her assistants to go shopping for more groceries.

"How goes it?' She asked, when she was close. "Need any help?" Chi-Chi stepped down from the chair she'd borrowed from the large table and sighed, pushing her sleeves up higher and setting down the over-sized spoon she'd been stirring with.

"It's nearly done. Thanks goodness you had these pots made. They make it so much easier." Bulma smiled.

"Yeah too bad I can't market them. No human alive eats as much as our families do." She thought for a moment, and then brightened. "Soup kitchen! Why didn't I think of that before..." She trailed off, lost in thought, realizing after a few seconds that Chi-Chi was waiting patiently for her to come back down to earth. "Gomen." She said sheepishly.

Chi-Chi smiled. "No worries. How is the girl... ummm.."

"She hasn't given us a name." She said. "Or if she did, Mirai hasn't told me yet."

"He spoke to her?" Chi-Chi asked, and Bulma nodded.

"Briefly. She ripped off the monitor I put on her. She's a curious thing. She told Mirai to talk to Dende. Said he'd confirm the need for her death. Though I'm not sure even my husband could pull that off in a rage." Chi-Chi looked stern, so she waved her arms in apology and explained quickly. "I'm not saying do it. It's just, Mirai brought her in with arms that were so broken they should have taken weeks to heal, even for a sayain. She really ticked him off. But he said when he spoke to her that she'd removed the bandages already. In the twenty minutes it took to tell the crew what was going on, she'd healed."

Chi-Chi looked only mildly surprised. After-all, their lives had been one out of this world thing after another. Their husbands were aliens, for Kami's sake. "What's coming Bulma?" She asked, suddenly serious. "What now, that frightens a being like that so much she'd beg for death?"

"A man." Bulma said. "Mirai said no more. But I'm sure he'll elaborate when he gets back from the lookout. He's actually beginning to worry me. His beast is stronger than ever..."

Chi-Chi nodded. "Goten and Chibi don't seem to have issues with theirs yet. Thank Kami. But I remember Vegeta courting you. Do you think..?"

Bulma shook her head. "I do. The want is almost instantaneous, from what Vegeta says. Of course Mirai couldn't be attracted to a normal girl..." She was interupted by the sound of a small explosion, and groaned. "And that sounds like the gravity machine broke, again, so the boys and Eighteen will be in soon. No doubt with my wonderful husband grumbling. I hope Mirai hurries. Vegeta eats twice as much when he's grumpy. It's amazing he doesn't weight six hundred pounds."

Chi-Chi laughed. "I don't know how you do it." Bulma laughed with her, hugging the smaller woman.

"The same way you do my good friend." She said. "Moment by moment, day by day. With the tiniest hope for no end to the happiness."

...

"I know you're busy with Videl and the baby on the way at any moment, but we couldn't leave you in the dark." Mirai said, looking at Gohan. His friend sighed, rubbing his hand across his face. He looked tired, frustrated, and worried. He knew his news wasn't helping.

"Thanks for letting me know Mirai." He said. "I have to say it's not the best news. Some mysterious man on his way to destroy the world. A mysterious Queen of Stars who'd rather take her own life than fight. It doesn't sound promising."

"Does it ever?" Mirai asked, looking out onto the horizon as Gohan did. He'd traveled more than anything today, and the sun was setting slowly, casting a glow of pink and orange over Gohan and Videl's front porch. The second time in two days. "Dende and Piccolo said killing her ourselves would be a travesty. If her power is so great, we might be able to convince her to fight with us."

"But will it help, if she's failed before?" Gohan asked, and Mirai shook his head.

"Who knows? You wanna give up this time and go home?" He smiled when he said it, and Gohan smiled back, slapping him on the back.

"Always a joker." Videl's voice rang out from inside, and Mirai saluted him. "Keep me updated." Mirai nodded.

"I will." He said, and then quieter, "How is she?"

"It's touch and go." He said, solemnly. "Her fever has gone down, but the doctor's are talking induction. She has preclampsia for sure. The timing is always off. For now, I have to stay here."

"I know. Call if you need us." Gohan nodded, and he nodded back before again shooting off into the sky, back to Capsule Corp. Bad timing indeed. The last thing they needed was Videl being ill, at a time like this. He shook his head of bad thoughts and flew faster, but there was still a lump in his chest that would not go away. A feeling that was like a black hole, threatening to suck him in. The fight was in his blood, yes. But he still longed for the day when it would finally be over. If not for him, than for the ones he loved.

...

'Why do you persist in this fruitless endeavor?' She opened her eyes to darkness, and narrowed them immediately. Because floating in the blackness of her mind was Chaos. He was as good-looking as ever, in his true form. Eyes of Sunset orange, creamy mocha skin, hair that was long, black, and lustrous. And his frame. It was to die for. 'If only, my Sweet Queen.'

'You're close.' She said, instead of arguing with him. He smiled, and that was gorgeous too. Everything about him was so sickeningly beautiful.

'I am.' He said, and his voice was smooth and deep. 'I've missed you dear. Why did you run away from me?'

'I would not have run, had I the choice.' She said angrily. 'The fates seemed to think I could not handle dispatching of you myself.'

'Isn't that what you think?' She bristled, and he smirked. 'After-all, you've been trying every way possible to end yourself, to prevent my coming. Has the fight gone out of you so soon my Queen? I admit, that might make it less fun for me...'

'Stop calling me yours.' She spit, 'I am not, and will never be. I'd rather kill myself a million times over, and die the most horrible deaths, than consent to being in your arms. But if it comes down to a battle. I will fight. And I will not lose. Not this time.'

'There's the spirit I like to see.' He said with a smile. 'I do admit the wounds you keep inflicting are annoying. I've ruined some of my best clothes. Your latest endeavor was ever so messy. Does it anger you to know that not even a knife through the heart can keep me away? She narrowed her eyes at him, but did not comment. He laughed in at her silence. 'In any case, a fight to the death is more my style. I'll be seeing you soon, my sweet.'

'Not if I can help it.' She spit, but he only laughed, and slowly dissipated, like smoke on the wind. She spiraled back into the blackness with hate in her heart, and murder on her mind. His, or her own, did not matter at this point. But it was obvious, she was going to have to try harder.

...

Something told him to go to her room first. He didn't know what. It was a feeling in his chest, the soft growling of his beast in the back of his brain. His insistence was beginning to get annoying. Although he could sense his friends and family were all seated in the kitchen, he walked past it, and up the stairs. He ignored Bulma's inquisitive call out to him, and the grumble in his stomach at the smell of food, and walked the long hallways fast, then faster. His heart was beating out of his chest when he finally reached the door. "Door open." He did not expect to see what met his eyes when he was finally allowed entrance.

She laid on the floor in her own pool of blood. It colored the tile in a morbidly beautiful way, deep red against stark white. Her hands were still wrapped around the hilt of a crude looking hunting knife, with the blade shoved so deep in her chest only an inch of it still showed. He could hear the footsteps behind him, and then Bulma's scream. "Don't look!" He growled, raising a hand. "Door Close!" He heard it snap shut behind him, much faster than it had opened, and dropped to his knees beside the still body. His beast roared in discontent, and he could feel a haze come to his eyes. The blood soaked through the fabric of his gi almost immediately. "What did you do?" He whispered aloud. "Kami, Serenity what did you do?"

He was hesitant to touch her, but it was as if his hands moved of their own accord. He wrapped them around the hilt of the knife, and tugged fast, with all his strength. When it was in his hands he let it fall, clattering to the floor and echoing. The last thing he expected, was for her eyes to snap open, barely focused as she looked up at him, as three words spilled from her mouth, raspy and blood choked. "He's found me."

...

All she could see was Mirai's back, and the blood that pooled on the floor. That, and the too-pale face of the girl she'd locked in that room hours ago. She did the only thing she knew how to get the attention of the others. She screamed bloody murder. Because, that looked like exactly what it was.

She was shaking when Vegeta finally landed in front of her, grabbing her arms and looking into her eyes. "Onna, what's wrong?" The words would not come, so instead she pointed at the door, her hand shaking so violently that Vegeta grasped it in his to still it. Goku, Krillen, and Eighteen had come too.

"Kami she's killed herself... " She whispered, and Vegeta looked at her with hard eyes that asked for an immediate explanation. "Door Open." She whispered. And all of their eyes turned to see what lay beyond. She could have screamed again when she saw all the blood, and Mirai kneeling on the floor in it. His arms were wrapped around the shoulders of the small girl, holding her up, and she could no longer see her face, but she could hear Mirai mumbling, softly. He did not look up at them, but called out to her.

"Mom, we need gauze." Hearing him say that three letter word was what snapped her from her daze. Mirai had never called her Mom. Not once, since his arrival. She broke from Vegeta's grip only because he was no longer paying attention to her, and ran to the far wall of the room.

"Drawers open." She demanded, and drawers that were invisible but when opened slid out, smoothly. These, she had just installed two weeks ago. My they were handy. She grabbed a fistful and handed them over Mirai's shoulder. He did not look up, but she could hear him mumbling again, softly. Then she heard a sound that surprised her, and everyone else, who had filed into the room, and stood looking at the gory sight.

"Onegai Mirai." Serenity's voice rasped, and she choked on what Bulma could only assume was blood. "Do it now. Onegai. Onegai. For the lives of your loved ones..." She choked, and her voice came back like it was underwater. "Pick up the knife, and stab me again. Until I can't wake up."

"Mirai..." Bulma cried out involuntarily, shocked and in awe. He calmly turned, and looked at her, and she could see the sorrow in his eyes. The indecision. The haze of the beast. Her voice came out softer then, faced with this new side of her son. "You can't..." She trailed off when he spoke, cutting her off.

"Shhh Mom." He whispered. "It's okay." And just like when his father said such things, in the dark, away from prying eyes, she believed him.

...

"Shhh Mom." He whispered. "It's okay." He turned his head the other way, and his eyes drifted over the Z-Warriors present. "If she lives, Chaos will come. He has already found a way, and we will be forced to fight for our lives too. If she dies... he will never arrive."

Serenity's hand shot up so fast he could not see it, and grabbed him by the front of his gi, pulling his head down violently. The whole room tensed, but no one moved. His beast roared in the back of his head, delighted by the challenge she presented. He stared down into her dark grey eyes. They were slowly becoming more focused, though pain still clouded them. "You forget there is no life left for me either way. If Chaos dies. I do too. In any dimension. Anytime. Do it now Mirai." Her last sentence was a pleading whine, soft and solemn. Her eyes were pleading too. "Onegai. Do it now and save them all."

"I won't have your blood on my hands." He whispered, and then called behind him. "But any of you is welcome. The knife is beside me." He saw the hope in her eyes, saw it dashed when no one moved. He held in his sigh of relief. His beast snorted. "Would you have us damn ourselves so easily?" He asked, and her eyes narrowed as they filled with tears.

"I would have no more lives lost but my own." She whispered back, and then cried out, her eyes screwing shut as a shudder ran the length of her body. He held her to him, still pressing down the gauze his mother had given him on the wound she'd inflicted herself. A wound that no doubt, should have been fatal.

"Right now, you're our best bet." He said softly. "Not one of us in this room has ever backed down, or given up. Did we get beat? Hell yes. But we came back stronger. Better each time." His voice got louder as he spoke. "Come back down to Earth Serenity. Remember us, down here? We need you to fight."

Her eyes watered more, and two tears spilled down her face from each one, before she blinked, and cleared them. "Forgive me." She said, and her fingers slowly uncurled from around his gi, and ran up his neck. He shivered because her skin was so soft, and so cold. She caressed the side of his face, and sighed. It was a gasping, labored sound. The beast in him purred. Her eyes were deep, sorrowful and sad, but her lips turned up in a soft smile. "The heart, is the most painful to repair." She whispered. And he tightened his arms around her as her eyes screwed shut, and she shook violently. When she stopped shaking, he looked down at her, but if he had expected silence in her unconsciousness, the next second she proved him wrong. Her mouth opened, and tears leaked from her closed eyes, and she screamed, and screamed, and screamed.

...

Her vision and hearing were clouded with such intense pain, That it had taken her a moment to realize it was her voice, that was screaming. This though, was only a passing thought when she realized she could not stop. Nothing existed, but the pain and the raw sound coming from her throat. Then it just, stopped. She breathed in short gasps of air, then longer ones, and blinked her eyes until she could see.

She was met with pale blue eyes. Eyes that were worried. And she found that she immediately felt bad for making him look that way. She tested the strength of her fingers, and found that they were curled in his. Further inspection showed the room she was in had changed. These walls were light grey, the bed she was upon cloaked in black. She tried to sit up, but he pushed her shoulders gently back down, his look still intense. She tried to speak, but her voice failed her.

"You screamed for an hour." He said, and his voice was husky and deep with emotion. "You shouldn't speak." She shook her head, and tried again, this time managing a low whisper.

"I never meant to..." He cut her off with a finger across her lips.

"Shhhh." He sat beside her on the bed, and she could feel his fingers tickling her palm, a distraction from the ache that lingered in her chest. There was tight white gauze wrapped around her entire upper half. She could feel the warmth of the blood that still soaked through. She was clothed in nothing but this and what felt like spandex shorts. At one time, she might have been embarrassed at the lack of covering. But years of Senshi skirts had destroyed her modesty. "You should sleep. Bulma was amazed at your rate of healing, but that wound still hasn't closed."

She tried to open her mouth again, but he shushed her immediately with a calloused finger over her mouth. "Please." He said softly. She moved the hand he did not hold, and pulled his free hand from her lips, cupping it instead to her face, with her hand resting lightly over it.

"I can't pretend to know what pain you've endured." She whispered, fighting to make herself heard. "But the pain Chaos inflicts, will be much worse." She remembered him whispering to her, while she lay on the cold floor of that white room. It was coming back now in flashes. He had spoken to Dende. He knew the dangers. And still, both he and his friends had refused to end her.

"You can stop trying to convince me." He said, and smirked. It made her heart flutter in a way she had not felt in three millenia, and it was scary and soothing at the same time. "You need to sleep." He tried to pull away, but she held him fast this time, looking up into his eyes.

"Stay." She whispered. "I need to hear your heartbeat." He did not say anything. Just complied. He laid beside her and lent his warmth, allowing her to lay her head on his chest, one arm curled over his middle. She sighed into him, and noticed he had changed too. His gi was gone, and he wore a white tank top, with over sized grey sweatpants. It was an idle thought. Chaos would come. And perhaps she had known that all along. But instead of preparing, instead of building herself back up, she had spent the time bidding on something time had not seen once. Her own death. 'Now you're getting it Odango.' Rei's voice said, and she wanted to laugh. She wanted to cry. She wanted to scream. Instead she curled closer to the warm body of Mirai, who had laid himself next to her on the large bed,

She was bombarded with emotion while she lay there. Emotion that could not escape her tired body. Regret. Pain. Fear. Anger. Sadness. It was like a wave she was drowning in, with no strength to swim free. She clung to Mirai and his arms wrapped around her, helping to still the shiver in her limbs. And then it happened. When she had woken up, at her arrival on this planet, the symbol she had gleaned from her senshi, and her own birthmark, her crescent moon, had faded from her brow. She had figured it was because she had failed. She knew now, it was only because she had lost her will. In the darkness of the room they lay in, she could see the glow that signaled it's return. A soft silver light.

"Serenity." He whispered, and she could hear the awe in his voice. She closed her eyes and snuggled closer, speaking sleepily. She really was tired.

"I will fight." She said softly, and then the warm darkness of sleep took her, just late enough for her to hear him mumble back.

"Arigato."

...

_**So not even a knife through the heart can kill our Queen of the Stars. But what does this mean for the battle ahead? With Chaos on his way and little time to prepare, can Serenity save the DBZ planet? Can they save themselves? And what of the feeling rising between Serenity and Mirai? Find out in the next chapter of The Only Way Out. And please remember to review!**_

_**To my reviewers:**_

_**OceanTide : So glad you are enjoying the story! You have the right idea about Trunk's beast. And it will get even more complicated as the story rolls on. So stay with us!**_

_**SeleneAnadyomene: Thank you! I will try to keep this updated as often as i can.. I'm a few chapters ahead.. so it should be once every two weeks. **_

_**Amanda: Thank you!**_

_**MegaKat: Thanks you so much for following along with all of my stories.. and continuing to review! :) **_


	4. Chapter Four : Heartbeats

**Disclaimer : I do not own Sailor Moon or DBZ. I do not own Sailor Moon or DBZ. I do not own Sailor Moon or DBZ... *sobs* Why!?**

**...**

**: The Only Way Out :**

**: Chapter Four : Heartbeats :**

...

She woke up because the warmth was no longer beside her. Mirai had gone. She was bothered by the fact that she missed him. But the bed she was sprawled out on still smelled of him, and it was comforting. The room she was in, the room that must be his, was still dark, but she could tell morning had come by the light that filtered through the dark curtains. The sunlight laid in soft stripes over her body. For a moment, she debated getting up, but her limbs told her no when she tried to move. Everything still heart was the hardest to repair. It was afterall, such a complicated organ. She had hoped between the knife and the strain of her losses that her blow would kill her. Wishful thinking, again. It would mend to perfect shape soon. If the hollow feeling she'd carried inside it for three millenia counted as perfect.

'You are the one who condemned yourself to loneliness.' Mamoru's voice said, and she breathed out loudly into the pillow beneath her head. She had ended up on her chest sometime after Mirai had vacated the bed.

"It hurts too much to feel again." She whispered, and she could almost see Mamo shaking his head, in her mind's eye, with that smile he used to use to assure her everything would be alright. Even when it wouldn't.

'I can't imagine it hurts any less than stabbing yourself in the heart Usako.' She sighed into the pillow, and turned her head to the side, blinking slowly as she breathed in Mirai's scent.

"You didn't have to live with me being gone."

'No, but it pains me to have watched you sink lower, after all these years.'

"Watch what?" She whispered bitterly. "You're not real Mamo. You're the voice I conjure to stem my insanity. You all are."

'Are we?' His voice said, and she could hear the smile in it. 'If that's true, than we are you. The part that wants to feel again. And you'd do well to listen.' She was going to reply, but the static that came with the voices had gone, and she knew she would get no answer. Instead, she closed her eyes again, and laid there in the dark with too much on her mind.

...

They'd been discussing what move to make next, in Bulma's large kitchen, when the phone rang. "Moshi, Moshi?" Bulma's voice fell at the sound of the voice on the other end, hushed and worried. He tried to listen in, but Bulma had modified all the phones in the house to be indelible to saiyan ears. Her eyes narrowed in thought, and she spoke again. "Gohan... Oh yes. I see. Well bring her here right away. We're all here." When she hung up, she looked back at the crowd gathered in her kitchen and spoke fast. "Videl is going into labor, and it's very touch and go. Gohan doesn't trust the hospital to care for her, so he's bringing her here. I have to go prepare a room. Chi-Chi..." She could see the worry in the woman's eyes just like everyone else could, and jumped on it. "Start cooking." She smiled, and rushed off, and just like that their morning conversation was shattered.

Goku looked lost, but in a rare show of companionship, Vegeta grabbed him by his shoulder and dragged him from the room, mumbling something about training. His father was not a compassionate man, but Goku had done the same for him when Bra was born. It was nice, albeit odd, to see him return the favor. He realized suddenly, painfully, that this was one of the reasons he was so protective of this world. Of these people. He'd never known a group more well put together. More loyal. Helpful.

He wondered, idly, as Eighteen helped Chi-Chi gather ingredients to cook, and Krillen headed outside to gather the little ones, if Serenity had something like this on her world. Yes, he'd watched his father, his best friend, and all the others die. One by one. He still had nightmares. Some nights, he'd wake up with his fists clenched so hard his nails drew blood from his palms. But he'd been given a second chance. An opportunity to rewrite the future, and be a part of it. What Serenity had, it was lost forever. There was no going back. He thought maybe, that if he'd been left all alone on that barren planet, nowhere to go, that he might have wished for death too.

His thoughts were broken up when Gohan's energy appeared on the horizon, and he finally uncrossed his arms, moving from his position. It was time to do his duty too. Gohan would need someone to keep him grounded. Thoughts of the mysterious, sad girl, would have to wait until this disaster was averted first.

...

Something was happening. The heartbeats of the occupants of this large home had sped up so suddenly that they were like drums in her ears. She couldn't glean the emergency from the colors they cast. She debated teleporting for a moment before deciding against it. It was not Chaos that sped up their hearts so. She would have felt him, had he been here. No, something else was causing the rampant worry.

'Is it so wrong to feel for them?' Ami's voice asked. She sighed, and rolled onto her back on the large bed, looking up at the dark ceiling and laying one forearm over her eyes after deciding the sunlight that peeked through the window was just too bright for her liking.

"No. But it will hurt more when I can't save them. He'll be here soon."

'How do you know you won't Hime?' Setsuna's voice asked, softly. She felt her lips turn down into a frown, and when she opened her mouth, her voice was choked and foreign.

"I couldn't save you." She whispered. "With all the care, all the fight and determination in my heart, I couldn't save the ones I loved the most." She was morbidly satisfied when no one tried to argue with her.

...

He hadn't really planned on ending up in the large room, standing in the corner, but Gohan's eyes had told him that he needed him there, and he refused to leave Videl's side. It had been two hours, and she didn't look any better. She was clammy and pale, and though Bulma had shot her up with so much pain medication he was sure it would have knocked out an elephant, she still moaned pitifully from time to time.

She was hooked up to four monitors, one for her heartbeat, one for her blood pressure, and two for the baby's movements and heartbeat. Both were very slow. Not good, if he remembered correctly. Bulma was trying to stabilize both of them before she allowed Videl to push, but doing so was looking increasingly impossible. His adoptive mother looked tired and frustrated.

"Alright Videl." She said soothingly, "I need you to push everytime you feel a contraction. Just listen to my voice okay?" Videl nodded but did not speak. He watched with hard eyes as Gohan ran shaking hand over Videl's head, whispering in her ear. The tension could have been cut with a knife. The monitor that read the baby's heartbeat flatlined, and his own heart dropped in his chest. There was a lump in his throat he could not move.

He was standing in a position that gave him enough of a view so that he'd didn't feel awkward. Birth was a messy, awkward thing afterall. It seemed like the minutes dragged as Bulma's soft voice told Videl when to push, and when the baby was finally in her arms, there was a hush that fell around the small room. "She's not crying." Gohan said, and his voice was cracked and worried. "Why isn't she crying?" Videl's eyes were wide and scared.

He moved closer, and now he could see the small, limp baby in Bulma's arms. Her tiny chest did not rise and fall, and her skin was a pale, ugly blue. "I'm so sorry." Bulma said, and the tears in her eyes were evident in her voice even though he couldn't see them. "She was stillborn. There's nothing I can do."

On the bed, Videl began to shake, then scream, and he found himself beside Bulma suddenly, without thought. She handed him the tiny, cold bundle, wrapped in a light pink blanket that was covered in blood and muck, and he was frozen, staring at her tiny, unmoving face as Bulma rushed to help her distraught mother. The monitors were beeping, but the sound was distant to his ears. "She's having a seizure!" He heard Bulma say, her voice squeaking with distress. "Gohan, hold her arms down.." And then it seemed like the sound had been drained from the room. Because he couldn't help the growing pain in his chest. The feeling of the unfairness of it all.

The tears were running down his face before he knew they were there, warm and salty, and he hugged the still body to his chest. It didn't matter that the world might end soon. That doom hovered over them from time to time. They had always survived, together. But when mother nature itself took something away, there was that feeling of utter helplessness. You could not fight fate. There was no one to blame, No one to seek vengeance on. For a fighter, it was the worst feeling of all.

...

Rarely did she glean words from someone's mind, for she was not a mind-reader, but Mirai was broadcasting his sadness so powerfully that the five words popped into her head as if they'd been carved there. 'You could not fight fate.'

There had been three heartbeats that had arrived two hours ago, two of them faint, and now, she could not feel the tiniest one at all. The rest, had sped up so violently that she had a headache. She could sit here no longer. It was time to crawl up from her own self-pity and feel again. No matter how much it hurt. Because she could not stand to let that heartbeat fade. 'I knew you'd see the light.' Mamoru's voice said, under the drumming of heartbeats.

"I'm not heartless." She whispered, steeling herself. The place she needed to be was two hallways down, three rooms over. She pushed herself up from her position on Mirai's bed, ignoring the ache in her chest. The thumping of her own heart. "I've just accepted my end." She raised her finger to her lips, and whispered because she needed the words to concentrate. "Sailor Teleport."

...

He didn't know she was there until she gently touched his shoulder, and when he finally looked up his eyes were wide with surprise. There was emotion there like she hadn't seen in a long time. A helplessness, and a sadness that could not be named. She held her arms out, and spoke softly. "Give her to me." She was aware that there were people behind her. But only two sets of eyes bored into her back. The woman lying behind her was weak, but she could wait. This had to be done first. "Mirai. Onegai." She said softly again, because it seemed he was so frozen in emotion he needed prodding. "I can help. Onegai. Trust me."

"Mirai, is that...?" A voice said from behind her, but she did not turn. Neither did she turn when the door to the room they were in flew open, and the people she had glimpsed earlier filed in. All their heartbeats were different. If she'd known their names, she could have picked them out merely by sound. The room was a myriad of deep blues and soft pinks that faded to purple. Sorrow. These were the colors of sorrow. Like the sky at the end of the day.

"Brat, what is she doing here?" She heard the gruff voice of the angry man behind her, but she ignored it, staring into Mirai's icy blue orbs. He hadn't looked anywhere else since she'd appeared. She could see how lost he still was.

"Onegai Mirai." She whispered, her last bid for his attention. She needed him to comply. She needed him, most of all, to trust her, because he was one of the few who knew her pain. Time slowed down as his arms moved, and she accepted the frail, tiny form into her arms. When he had finally pulled his hands away, she pulled the baby to her chest, and smiled softly at him before turning her vision to her task.

The tiny thing was pale, and cold, but there was still hope. There was always hope. She wasn't far. That was something she'd almost forgotten, so lost in her own sorrow. If not for her life, then for the lives of others. She peeled the soiled pink blanket from the baby carefully, and sighed as she laid a hand on her unmoving chest. It had been a long time, since she'd used this power in particular. 'You've never gotten it wrong Koneko.'

"Shhh..Haruka." She whispered aloud. Then the glow started. First, it was in her eyes, a warmth that was distant but oh so familiar. Then, it blazed from her forehead, in the form of the crescent she'd thought gone forever. Finally, it was in her fingers. It built a fire there, a glow that was like a thousand suns, and a heartbeat blossomed beneath them. There was a moment of complete silence, as if the world itself had stopped, and the universe revolved only around she and the small bundle in her arms. When it started again, from the depths of the muddled blanket, there was a sharp resounding cry. She let out the breath she didn't know she'd been holding, and bid her limbs to cease their ache. Bid her eyes to stay open. She looked up at Mirai, who's eyes were wide with wonder, and winked, before turning around and carrying her small charge to the bed behind her.

The woman's heartbeat was still faint, but she was in no immediate danger. She smiled at the man who stood protectively next to her, and leaned over the side of the bed. Her hair cascaded over the softly whining child, and her mother, as she laid her lips on the hot skin of her forehead. All this woman needed was a push in the right direction. It took little more than a few seconds to transfer to her the healing she needed. By the time she had pulled back up, the mother was looking up at her with wide brown eyes. Gently, she laid the baby in her arms, brushing the soft curls of black on her small head before breaking contact completely. She was having a difficult time keeping her eyes open. The energy she'd used left her feeling drained and weak. But the way her heart soared, looking at Mother and child, and the father curled protectively beside them, made it all worth it. It had been such a long time, since she'd felt like this.

The fates had done it again. Reminded her in no uncertain way that _this_ was what she'd always fought for. The one happy moment among millions of sad ones. The last ray of light before darkness. "Thank you." The woman whispered. "Thank you. Thank you." The father nodded, his throat so hard with emotion she could see it. The colors were brighter now. Instead of sunset, sunrise.

"What's her name?" Serenity whispered, fighting the darkness at the edge of her vision. The father answered, finding his voice.

"Pan." He said softly, and he wasn't looking at her, but at the bundle in his wife's arms, her tiny hands flailing as she hiccupped and whined. She was hungry. His eyes turned to hers then, filled with tears of joy, and she smiled for him, because he was smiling too. "What's yours?"

"Serenity." She whispered. And just that took all she had left, her legs failed her, and she collapsed. Her last thought was that she was becoming horribly accustomed to the darkness of her own mind.

...

He'd been so shocked, that he almost let her fall to the unforgiving floor. But his senses came back to him fast, and he found himself kneeling upon the floor for the third time in two days, holding the limp body of Serenity in his arms. Her heartbeat was so strong he could feel it through the thin wrapping of gauze. She didn't seem to be in danger, though blood still painted the pristine white gauze where she tried to inflict harm. "What is she?" He heard Videl ask behind him, and he shook his head, keeping his eyes on her face. Her breath was soft and even. It seemed she'd fallen asleep standing up.

"The Queen of Stars." He said quietly. Dende had given him the short version, but he had not lied in any way about her might. The power to bring someone back from the dead. It was something only the Dragon could do. And only after a myriad of trials. He looked around at the faces that were just as awed as him, and then at Gohan and Videl, cooing over their perfectly healthy baby-girl. Then he scooped her limp body into his arms, and simply carried her from the room, back down the hall to his own.

He was going to simply leave her there, because his beast was so uncomfortably persistent when he was in her presence. But her sleepy voice called out, so softly he barely caught the words, and her cool fingers reached out to grasp his. "Don't leave this time."

He turned back around, and caught her eyes, noticing that they were now lighter than he'd ever seen them, like the sky on a cloudy day. The crescent moon was still on her brow, though not nearly as bright as it had been. "Are you alright?" He asked, and she smiled softly, he was surprised to see just a tinge of it touch her eyes.

"I will be." Her voice was soft and full of sleep, but she seemed to be fighting it tooth and nail. "Funny, I never thought I'd say that again."

"Are you recounting your death wish?" He asked, and his voice came out hushed because hers was.

"No." She said simply. "I meant everything I said." She sighed, and fought with a yawn, her eyes heavy lidded. "I will fight Mirai. Because I do not go back on my word. But I will die either way."

"What are you, Serenity?" He asked, because he needed to know. "What kind of being heals injuries in hours, or brings the dead back to life? Can you even die at all? Because you stabbed yourself through the heart. I pulled out the knife myself. And you're still living and breathing."

"It's a long story." She said softly.

"I have time." He answered back, and was rewarded with a slow smile. He realized because her fingers moved gently across the inside of his palm, that she still held his hand with pale fingers.

"Once upon a time, there was a kingdom on the Moon, " She started. "With a beautiful Queen. She was blessed with a child right before her King went to war, and though he did not return, her sorrow turned to joy when her daughter was born. She was Serenity, her pride and joy. But her birth was not normal. When she finally left the womb, a curious thing came with her. A crystal, pure and powerful. Her child's soul outside her body. They called it The Maboroshi no Ginshizou. It was locked away, and kept secret. To protect her child, the Queen ordered that the first Princesses of each planet in their solar system be trained as her guard. They complied without complaint, because everyone loved the Queen and her Princess so. For awhile, all was well." She sighed again, and blinked her eyes slowly, but continued. "Fast forward sixteen years. Serenity, the light of all she knew, fell in love with the Prince of Earth. They were set to be betrothed. On the night of their engagement party, a Princess from the dark side of the Moon, mad with jealousy for her love of the Earth Prince, Endymion, attacked. The Senshi, Serenity's personal guard, fought with all their might. But they were young yet, and fell fast. The Prince tried his hand, but he too was thwarted. Driven insane with sorrow, the Princess took his bloodied sword, and drove it through her own heart."

"You're this Princess?" He asked. Her eyes were still heavy, and she nodded. Her fingers moved across his palm again, and he leaned onto the bed, closer to her, with his elbows upon the covers next to her. Slowly, he closed his hand around hers, and she sighed pleasantly. His beast purred.

"I have many names. But I was Serenity first."

"So what happened, to the Princess and her court?" He asked. She looked pained, and her eyes darkened, but she continued.

"The Queen broke into the locked room that held the Ginshinzou, and took it up, making a wish upon it that her daughter and all the inhabitants fo the Moon lost in their sorrowful battle, be reborn, 1000 years in the future. The evil power that had borne the battle in the first place, lied in wait. In the year 1987, Tsukino Usagi was born. Again, sixteen years of peace passed, but with the awakening of their enemies, the senshi and their Princess had to be restored to their power. They were given their abilities by birthright, and faced many trials. The Princess loved them. She sacrificed her life for them and her world three times over, and each time, the Ginshinzou restored her. At last came the final battle. If they won, they were promised peace. They had seen a future with a beautiful, Crystal kingdom, a tiny daughter with eyes of red. At the time they did not know it, but it was the battle that would end them all. The Crystal Kingdom had been lost before it was made. A being named Chaos, inhabiting the body of a Princess called Kakyu, threatened their world. They fought. At the very end, when their limbs were tired and their minds bent, the Senshi succumbed to Chaos' darkness, and turned on their Princess. Serenity, Usagi, Sailor Moon, all three and none, was forced to kill her loved ones. One by one." She tightened her grip on his hand, but did not stop. "At the last moment, her beloved senshi and her Prince, sacrificed their very core, their star-seeds, to aid her in winning. She became something else then, Cosmos, the Goddess of Stars. She sealed Chaos away in the cauldron of the Universe, the space between dimensions, and left him there to rot."

"But he escaped?" He asked, and she blinked slowly again, sighing.

"When I sealed him away, I had thought him gone forever. I became a thing that drifted among the stars. Watched the process of time. Helping, here and there. But he would come to me, in my dreams sometimes. If I had known what I know now..." She closed her eyes, and spoke very softly. If not for his superior hearing, he would have had to strain to hear. "You see, when I was born, on the other side of my universe, another was born. In the same second, my other half was created. I'm sure Dende told you this. One dark, one light. One born with the brightest soul ever seen, and the other born with no soul at all. It took a thousand years, but he was drawn to me, as later, I was drawn back to him. He cannot live without me, as I cannot live without him. The love of my friends kept me strong. The love for my people kept me honest and true. But his hatred seeped into my soul, after so long alone, and his power grew with it. He fed off my sorrow, my despair, and broke free. He destroyed Earth first. After that, I lost my will to fight. That would have been the end, but the fates wanted their game to last a bit longer, so they sent me here."

"The fates?" She smiled at his skepticism, and nodded.

"Yeah. Three little girls if you can believe it. They'd thought to balance the world by creating Chaos and I. They made us practically indestructible. One cannot exist without the other." She yawned again, and looked at him with soft grey eyes, filled with something he could not name.

"If we kill you, Chaos goes away?" He said, and she nodded with a sleepy smile.

"Yes. He may not die immediately. But he will waste away to nothing soon, without his other half." She moved over on the bed, and pulled at his arm. "Come, lay with me. It been so long, since heartbeats have been so close." He complied because she needed him to, and because his beast wanted it so badly it was hard to resist. He owed her the warmth after being so cold for so long, and allowed her to curl herself at his side. She laid her head on his chest, just above his heart. In the dim light, he moved his arm around her, and she almost purred when his ran his fingers gently through her hair, leaving them there.

"I won't kill you Serenity." He said, and it was a whisper, because her even breathing told him she was almost asleep.

"Yes, you will Mirai." She mumbled into his chest, and her breath was warm on his skin. "Eventually, you will have to kill him, should you choose not to kill me first. And just like him, if he is gone, eventually I will whither away. You should not stress it so. It will give your handsome face wrinkles." He looked down in shock and surprise, to find she was already fully asleep, her breathing deep and even, and her fingers still curled in his. He couldn't help it. He breathed her in, the cool scent of cherry blossoms, smirked, and fell into sleep himself. His beast was pleased.

...

_**Chapter Four, done. :) Just so you know... The Only Way Out will be coming out a bit slower because I like being a few chapters ahead... and my inspiration for this story is dwindling. Forgive me. So Usagi has performed the unbelievable feet of restoring life to Pan. And Mirai is even more determined to keep her from her own demise. Will he succeed? Even I don't know yet. So stay tuned. And please review!**_


	5. Chapter Five : Stretching The End

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or Dragon Ball Z. If I did, they would Already be a crossover... and there'd probably be alot more sex. **

**:The Only Way Out :**

**: Chapter Five : Stretching The End :**

...

She opened the door as quietly as she could manage, which wasn't easy, because most of the doors in her compound were push button and sliding, and in need of a greasing. She leaned in, and smiled at what she saw, before pushing the button that would close the door again. Mirai and Serenity were all but tangled in each other above the covers of his bed. She was more than relieved the girl was such a gem, because she could see, as well as his Father could, that his beast had attached itself to her. It was something innate, she had come to understand. It was also something that could not be ignored. She had hated Vegeta, at first. But his beast had drawn him so close to her that she had no choice but to look at him in a different light. He was not a monster. No Saiyan was. He was simply a man with a monster inside him. A monster with an insatiable lust for blood, but the will to be the best lover in existence. When a Saiyan's beast chose their mate, it was not often they were turned down. They were persistent, in the least. Obsessive at best. Mirai's beast was as powerful as his Father's. She'd known it had been giving him trouble. So she did not complain when he wandered off. Less things destroyed at home that way. The only thing she'd seen able to calm such rage, was love.

Though he put on a good front, he was still unaccustomed to their easy living. She knew, because a mother always knew. Future, past, or whatever else, she could still see the hurt in his eyes. He'd seen every one of them die. Most horribly. He'd seen his world turned to nothing but a barren ball of dust. But he'd survived, and brought the remedy to save their lives too. To change things. It did not change his memories. His pain. She reveled in his second chance. But he stayed an arms distance away at all times. Her heart had almost stopped when he called her Mom yesterday. It was something he'd never done. She knew why. Because deep down he feared losing them too.

She wished, he wouldn't worry so much. In a life like theirs, such things happened. It was not easy. It was never easy. To watch her son, her husband, her closest friends, dive into a battle to save their lives time and time again, it was exhausting. Terrifying. There were nights, wrapped in Vegeta's arms, that she cried herself to sleep. But she managed. Because she had to. The last remaining Saiyan's certainly weren't going to stop their fight. It was in their blood. And if not them, then who? They'd be dead so many times over if not for them. Some of them had been dead, too many times over. And now another war raged above their heads.

The timing was never perfect. As if she could expect it to be. Two invention blueprints were due into her office by Monday, the gravity machine needed to be fixed, Chibi and Goten were starting school in a month, Pan had just been born, and here it came again. The end of the world. Piece of freakin' cake. She sighed, turning the corner and heading towards the room where she had set up Gohan, Videl, and their new arrival. Videl and Pan were both fine, healthy, and ready to go home, but she'd insisted they stay due to the circumstances. The man Serenity called Chaos would come, Mirai had told them just four hours ago. And he would bring exactly what his name entailed.

The house was relatively quiet. Bra and Marron were outside with Krillen and Eighteen, Goku, and Vegeta had taken both Goten and Chibi to train to keep them busy. Chi-Chi was still cooking, creating a feast that would satisfy them all when the dinner bell finally rung. She peeked in on the happy couple to find them both napping, with Pan beside them in a bassinet. She was cooing and waving her arms about in the air, so she walked quietly over to her, and smiled down at the baby.

What Serenity had done was amazing. A feat, even with all the power in their veins, none of her friends could manage. Her heart was strong and pure. Her eyes, sad and distant, like Mirai's. Whatever she had seen, it had killed a part of her. It certainly had not killed her love, or her compassion. The girl had begged for death in a bid to save them all. Had driven a knife through her own heart. She shivered. Mirai's beast couldn't have made a better choice. She just hoped this didn't end in heartache. She knew the pain of loss. It had happened too many times. Far too many times.

She didn't have the strength her husband had, not physically. She couldn't turn Super Saiyan, or blast energy from her palms. But she'd be damned if she was going to let a shining light like Serenity just give up. She hoped, that Mirai would find a way. If anyone could do it, he could. Afterall, the two shared that same look in their eye. The look of being lost.

"And it's so much more comforting to be lost together.." She cooed in a baby voice to Pan, and smiled when the tiny demi-saiyan wrapped her furry brown tail around the hand she'd laid on the bassinet. "Isn't it sweetface? Yes it is."

...

She woke to the sound of his heartbeat, and listened for a long time before she decided to move. When she finally tried, she found herself stuck, Mirai's hand still tangled in her hair. And something peculiar, that she hadn't noticed before, wrapped tightly around her waist. He woke instantly, his body tense and rigid, so she closed her fingers tighter around his, and blew her warm breath across his chest. "Relax." She whispered. "The world won't end today."

He breathed in deep, so deep it moved her head up, and down, and sighed. "How do you know?" She shivered because his voice was still husky with sleep. She'd tried to ignore it, but it was painfully obvious how attractive this man was. His muscles were chiseled from stone, and his eyes were like endless frosty oceans. She was loathe to look up at him, lest she get caught in his stare, so she kept her head where it was, mumbling her answer into the fabric of his shirt.

"I don't. An asteroid could hit and destroy us all in the next three seconds." His heartbeat sped up and she laughed. It was a foreign feeling, it had been so long. "You're way too uptight."

"This coming from the girl who keeps asking me to end her life." She frowned, but the joy he brought her still lingered in her system like a drug.

"You're also a downer." She said, and looked up at him after turning her lips into a soft smile. "Not one of us can truly fight fate. What will happen, will happen. Living day by day is all we can do."

"You can fight fate." He said, and his eyes were still hazy with sleep. His hair had fallen almost completely out of it's tie, and it fell unkempt about his shoulders.

"No. I can bend the rules." She said. "There's a distinct difference. There is a beginning and an end to everything, in due time. I'm just good at stretching out the end." There was silence, for a moment, as he looked down on her, but she didn't find it uncomfortable.

"How can you be so unconcerned with your own end?" He asked, suddenly, and she grasped his fingers in her own, feeling him squeeze back.

"I have lived a long time Mirai." She said, choosing her words carefully. "I'm not scared to die."

"No." He said softly, and she realized suddenly how close they were, goosebumps raising on her skin even though his body was keeping her warm. "You're afraid to live." His hand moved through her hair, and his fingers tightened, tugging on it gently. "Like me."

"Is this the part where you tell me your back story? Cause I'd really like an explanation on the tail." She pointed to it, and looked back up at him, instantly rewarded with a smirk that made her heart beat fast in her own ears. He wrapped the fuzzy brown appendage around her tighter, and began.

"This isn't my time." He said simply. "That woman with the blue hair? She's not my Mother, but she is. Just as the short angry man is my father, though in my time, I didn't even get to meet him. My world was destroyed. My friends killed. Every human life wiped out. My Mother and I, future Bulma if you will, were all that was left. In a bid to save everyone, we created a time machine, and I traveled back in time to save this world. It created an alternate dimension if you will. Two worlds. One barren, one full of life." His eyes were hard as he spoke of this, and she could almost see the blood in his vision. The brutality. His fingers tightened in her hair what seemed like unconsciously. "I came back to this time when my Mother finally passed away from old age. I buried her deep in the Earth, and left it to fix itself." He'd been looking off into space as he spoke, but now he turned his vision to her. She could see the rage beneath the surface of those ice blue orbs. The anger at his fate. It was so familiar it hurt. She was sure she'd seen that look in her own eyes, gazing in the mirror. "You called us Golden Warriors. The truth is, we're part of a race called Saiyans. My father Vegeta was the Prince of our world, the King now, I suppose. He and Gohan and Goten's father, Goku, are the last full blood species of our race. Gohan, Goten, Chibi, Bra, and I, are all half-saiyan. Pan is the first demi-saiyan. We've fought battles across the years, and some of us have died more than once. I think Goku holds the record. The fight, it's in our blood. We don't know how to turn it down. The beast inside us... it craves battle." He seemed to realize how hard he was holding her, and loosened his grip. His tail unfurled from her waist, but only so far.

"As Cosmos, my job was to watch, but I would interfere if necessary." She said softly, keeping her voice low to calm the rage in him. "This dimension was one I rarely visited. I know it doesn't mean much. But you and your friends... you've done very well. I am sorry I've brought the fight to your door again."

She looked down, but he bid her to look back up with a tug on her hair, staring deep into her eyes, and smirking. "He'd never admit it aloud, none of us would, but my Father's ears perk at every sign of battle. This want burns in all of our veins. Even the little ones. Giving up isn't something we know how to do." He breathed out softly, and his eyes were intense suddenly, with a fire in them that forced her to hold his gaze. "I won't let you give up either Serenity. And I won't end your life."

She smiled at him, and it was real, and genuine, and it almost hurt. It had taken less than two days with this man to do exactly what she'd been avoiding. The warriors on this planet were loyal, noble, and as kind-hearted as they were brutal. And she'd be damned if she was going to let them die for her. The fates had succeeded in bringing her will to fight right back to the surface. No doubt the reason they'd sent her here. She'd fight, to make up for the lives she'd left behind. She'd fight for the lives here. And she'd die happy. "I won't ask again." She said, and he smirked back at her, moving his fingers slowly through her hair. His tail traced a lazy pattern on the bare skin of her back, and for the first time in a long time, she was completely content. She noticed idly, as she drifted back to sleep to the sound of his heartbeat, that this was the first time in a millenia that the voices were not with her.

...

"This is actually getting interesting." The small girl said, flipping her short dark hair back. "I knew sending her to this dimension was a good idea."

"You wanted to kill her two days ago." Her sister whined beside her. She snorted, and ignored her blatantly. The tallest of the three narrowed her dark eyes, and sighed.

"She is such an interesting being." She said quietly. "One of the most amazing things we've ever created."

"At least she's fun to watch." The first sister said, her voice laced with cynicism. "The fight is upon her again. But I'd bet on her death."

"You're so cruel." The smallest sister said, toying with her long white hair, wrapping a curl around her finger. "I hope she lives. She deserves that much. Life, and love."

"She deserves much more, for what we've done to her." The tallest one said, her eyes soft. "We shall watch, and wait."

"As if we could do anything else." The middle sister said snidely. When no one answered her, she huffed, and wandered away into the blackness that was their realm.

...

He woke to the smell of food drifting through the house, and realized, when his stomach growled angrily, that he hadn't eaten since this morning. His hands were still occupied, one tangled in her long hair, and one gently clasped with hers. His tail, who seemed to have a mind of it's own around her, was curled around one of her legs, nearly to her ankle. He was debating on how to remedy this when she opened her eyes.

"Hey." He smirked down at her, and couldn't help noticing how beautiful she looked. her lashes were dark, her lips full and pink, her cheeks flushed. There was still a deep sorrow that swirled in her eyes, but they were lighter still than before, and they sparkled like starlight. The crescent on her brow had faded to something like a birthmark, pale silver and no longer glowing. His beast roared in the back of his mind, and he had to fight the urge to pull her closer to him.

"Hey." She whispered back, and he completed the task of untangling his hand from her hair with some difficulty, and pushed himself back against the headboard of his bed, sitting up. He curled his tail back to it's normal spot around his middle. She sat up too, folding her legs beneath her and pushing her hair behind her ears. It was so long it pooled on the bed around her. They both looked over as the door to his room slid open, and Bulma stood there, a smirk on her face and her arms crossed. He felt for a moment, a rage at her interruption, but pushed it down, feeling unreasonable.

"Dinner's ready." She said. "If you don't hurry your father and Goku will eat it all." She tossed clothes into the room, and Mirai caught them with habitual reflex, and the door closed again as she called out. "Those should fit!" Serenity smiled at him.

"She calls him your father?" He nodded absent-mindedly.

"She calls herself my mother too." It wasn't something he was mad about. Really, he didn't know how to feel about it at all.

"She loves you." Serenity said softly. He nodded again.

"I know." He stood and stretched, pulling his hair back into a ponytail before offering his hand to pull her off the bed. She took it, but did not let go when she was finally standing beside him. "What's wrong?"

"I'm afraid if I let you leave my sight, you'll disappear." She admitted, seriously. He smirked at her, and pulled her closer to him, letting her lay her head over the spot his heart beat. It seemed to be something that comforted her.

"I'm not going anywhere." He said, and his voice came out husky. He could feel it vibrating in his chest. "Here." He pushed the clothing his mother had given him into her hands. "The shower is right there." He pointed, and she turned her head to look. "And I'll be right here when you get out." When she did not move, he raised a hand up, and cupped her face, making her look up at him. "Serenity, you don't have to be alone anymore."

"I'll try to remember that... if you do." She whispered, and then she pulled himself from his arms, and practically floated towards his private bathroom. He was left standing there, with his heart beating too fast in his chest, wondering how she had captured his heart so quickly. His beast roared, and he took a deep breath. Yes, he understood. It had chosen her. And when that happened, there was no turning back. She would be his.

...

The water was soothing in a way she could not describe. It had been an amazingly long time since she'd showered, as sick as it sounded. But there was no need when you were the Queen of Stars. A brush of her power could cleanse her skin, brighten her hair. Right now, it felt good to feel... mortal. She could hear Mirai's heartbeat in the room beyond, and was comforted by the fact that he was waiting for her. Her heart skipped a beat when she thought of the soft look in his eyes, the feeling of his skin against hers...

'He looks like my old sempai.' Makoto's voice said. She smirked under the water.

"He does not. None of your sempai's had lavender hair."

'You like the way he looks, don't you Usa?' Minako's voice asked, and she could see her wry smile in her mind.

"I'd be silly not to." She admitted, in a hushed whisper, bringing her hands up to wipe the droplets of warm water from her face. "But it is of no matter. I'll be dead soon after Chaos arrives. After I kill him."

'You said you'd remember you didn't have to be alone.' Chibi's voice said, and her heart panged with such ferocity that she dropped to her knees loudly. The pain was like a vice. She was vaguely aware of the door sliding open, and Mirai's worried voice over her. She looked up, ice blue on pale grey, and uncaring of her nudity, let her gather him in his arms, wrap her carefully in a towel, and carry her to his bed.

"I said I'd try." She whispered, fighting for normal breath. It was always Chibi's voice, that hurt the most, and her heart was still so weak. She was only half covered by the towel. it had come partly open when he'd laid her down, so that her breasts and hips were covered, but her legs, middle, and chest were bare. Her eyes flickered back to Mirai's when he spoke, and his calloused fingers ran a soft line down the scar on her chest. The scar that, while still an angry red, was healing fast.

"Who are you talking to, when you drift off like that?" Mirai asked, and she was only mildly surprised he'd asked. Maybe only because for so many years, there had been no one at all to ask why she spoke to herself so often.

"No one." She whispered, because she could not say. He didn't look like he believed her, but he did not press.

"When you're ready to tell me," He said. "I will listen." He had gathered her clothes from the bathroom at some point, and he laid them next to her on the bed, bending down to lay a soft kiss that belied his frame on her forehead. "I'll be in the hallway. Try not to fall again." He left her with a smirk that made her heart skip a beat, and as she pulled on her clothes, Rei's voice did not resist commenting.

'I think he likes you Odango.' She said smugly.

"Shut up Rei." She whispered aloud. She walked to the far wall of Mirai's room, where a floor length mirror resided, and looked at the clothes Bulma had lent to her. It was a simple black tanktop, that showed off the hard line where she'd driven the hunting knife through, and jean shorts that fit perfect. It had been so long since she'd looked at herself in a mirror, that it was strange. Her skin was pale as the moon, her hair long and the color of starlight. She'd cut it with Saturn's scythe a millenia ago, a sign of mourning in many cultures, to just above the small of her back. It had stayed that way since. Her eyes were darker than she remembered, a cloudy grey. Once, they had been the bright silver of her hair. Her crescent, which had made it's reappearance, was a dull silver upon her brow. She slipped on the black flip-flops that were laid with the clothes, and found these fit perfect as well. Bulma did look to be about her size.

"You ready Serenity?" Mirai's voice called from the hallway. She smiled at her reflection, and her eyes watered when behind her appeared the images of all her friends, her love, and her tiny daughter.

"Yes." She called back. "I'm coming."

'That's my girl.' Haruka said, and her lips actually moved in the image of the mirror. She smiled, blinked her tears away, and met Mirai in the hallway, not looking back. He held out his hand, and she took it, letting him lead her away from the images of her past.

...

She'd given him a scare in the bathroom, when he had heard the loud sound of her body falling and had come in to see her staring into space, kneeling in the tub. She didn't look hurt, but neither did she respond when he wrapped her in a towel and gathered her in his arms. She did not know the amount of strength it took to calm his beast, seeing her like that. It wanted. it desired. And it demanded immediate gratification. But he would not be the force that confused her further. She already seemed so lost. "Are you alright?" He asked, and she nodded, giving him a small smile that actually reached her eyes.

"I missed hearing heartbeats." She said. He understood her better than most would have. He did not hear heartbeats like she did. Did not have such a peculiar attachment, but he knew what it was like to be utterly alone.

She clung to him like a child when they walked down the stairs and rounded the corner, arriving at the large kitchen. There was silence for a brief moment, that fell back into chatter a soon as he sat her beside him. He'd spoken to all of them this morning, before Gohan had called. He'd told them of the danger, and they had all accepted the fight. It seemed the incident with Pan had only solidified their decision. Serenity was not here to hurt them. She was just a girl who'd lost her way. And hell, they dealt with people like this all the time. It was nothing new. First it had been Goku, then Vegeta, and himself.

He felt her squeeze his hand beneath the table, and he smirked at her, bending down so he could kiss her on the forehead, and not caring that Goten cleared his throat and Chibi's face twisted mockingly. Nor that his father raised an eyebrow and his mother looked ecstatic. He had to coax her into eating with a nudge, and while she didn't eat much, she took a few mouthfuls to make him happy. In the moments his hand was not in hers, his tail traced lazy patterns up and down her bare leg. His beast did not want to bear separation. It was all he could do to calm it. When the dishes had been cleared and everyone looked satisfied, it was Bulma that broke the comfortable silence.

"I figured introductions could wait until after the food. Seeing as you're sitting at a table full of Saiyans." She said, and they all laughed, even Serenity. He found he loved the sound of it. It was sweet and foreign. "And I was right. So now that we're all full, everyone, this is Serenity. She'll be our guest from now on. So be nice." She aimed this particular sentence at his father, who snorted. She smacked him playfully, without looking at him, and continued. "Serenity, I'm Bulma." She pointed to his father, who had his arms crossed and looked at her through narrowed eyes. "This is my Husband Vegeta, and next to him is Goku." Goku smiled and waved, and when he looked down at her, she was smiling too. Who wouldn't though, when presented with the goofy man? He was contagious. "Next to him is his wife Chi-Chi, and their son Goten." Goten stared, obviously fascinated. "That's Krillen, his wife Eighteen, and their daughter Marron." Krillen smiled and waved, and Eighteen nodded her head, as she was tending to the giggling Marron. "You know Gohan and Videl, and little Pan." She nodded her head, and seemed to make the connection herself. Gohan looked just like Goku and Goten. It was fairly obvious they were related. "And of course we have my kids. Chibi Trunks, Bra, and Mirai." He squeezed her hand almost unconsciously. He wondered if she noticied how alike he and Chibi looked, and she seemed to read his mind, her eyes turning up to his face, then Chibi's, then his again, before smiling softly and squeezing back.

"Your name is Trunks?" She whispered only to him, and he smirked.

"Why do you think I prefer Mirai?" She giggled, and then Goku spoke up, and his voice was so serious that the smirk dropped from his face, and her laughter died.

"I think it's time we talk about this man that's coming for you Serenity." She nodded next to him, but Bulma interrupted with a shaking finger.

"Uh-Uh. There's three bottles of wine chilling on the deck outside. And sparkling grape-juice for Goten and Chibi. Once Marron, Bra, and Pan are down, then we can start." It was obvious that what his Mother said was law at this house, because although Vegeta grumbled and Goku rubbed the back of his head, they all stood, and shuffled off towards the door that led to the large deck outside. He pulled Serenity up with him, and she clung to his side again.

"Worried?" She smiled up at him, and his breath caught in his throat. Kami, she was just too beautiful. His heart skipped a beat, and his beast roared at her answer. So loud it was almost painful.

"Just soaking it all in before I'm gone." She said back, and ran her fingers up his arm when he looked angrily down at her. "What did I tell you about stressing?" She asked as she fell into step with him.

"That it will give me wrinkles." He said, moodily. She patted his arm, and he couldn't help the fast beating of his heart, wondering if she could hear it.

"Yes I can..." She whispered softly, smiling up at him. He looked at her in awe, but any questions he had died in his throat as she giggled and dragged him outside.

_**...**_

_**Chapter Five finished. Yaaaay! So Mirai's beast becomes increasingly possessive over Serenity. But what can come of a relationship with a girl poised to die? Serenity has met all the Z-fighters... and maybe even made some new friends... but Chaos will not be held back for long. What next? Find out in the next Chapter of The Only Way Out. Don't forget to review!**_

_**To my Reviewers: Sorry this chapter has taken so long! I had to move yet again and very suddenly... and haven't had much time for the things I love to do... mainly get these chapters out to you! I am warmed by your response to thsi story, and shall continue as best I can! **_

_**Sailie: Thank you! :) That does give me some motivation. I am honored by your response. **_

_**Pandora's Heart: Thanks for your patience! I hope I'm not dissapointing. :)**_

_**Twilightrocks100: Thank you so much! Hope you enjoyed this chapter as well. :)**_

_**SeleneAnadyomene: Glad you were moved.. it's what I was going for. ;)**_

_**ChbiSilverShadow: Keep reading.. her interaction with Vegeta is soon to come. :) **_

_**DevaFiend: O.o... I kept you up? I do the same thing lol. Glad to see you liked the story.. more to come soon! **_

_**MegaKat: I already answered your reviews... but I just wanted to say I love you. ;) Thanks for hanging in with my untimely updates and my insistenet nonsense. **_


	6. Chapter Six : Give In

: The Only Way Out :

: Chapter Six : Give In :

...

Everyone had a glass of wine or juice in their hand, and she had made herself comfortable between Mirai's legs on a lounge chair that faced all the Warriors. There was silence for a moment, then Mirai's tail snaked around the wrist holding her glass of wine, and helped tip it to her mouth. She giggled so hard she nearly choked on it, and it served to break the ice. "The first order of business, is a toast to the new parents." Mirai said, and raised his glass while simultaneously helping her raise her own. She smacked at his tail, and he smirked through the wince. She was learning quickly how sensitive it was. With barely a touch to the soft brown fur, she could make him shiver. It was as amusing as it was enjoyable. Once all their glasses were raised, Gohan continued.

"And to the woman who saved Pan's life... Serenity." She smiled shyly and took a slow sip of her wine as everyone else did, embarrassed fully.

"Thank you again." Videl said from beside her, and she nodded.

"I couldn't sit there when saving her was within my power." She said softly, smiling at the young woman.

"What else is 'within your power'?" Krillen asked, using his fingers to mark his words poignantly. "Or Chaos', for that matter?" She took a deep breath, and started.

"Chaos and I, while being two beings, were made for balance. One dark. One light. It is within my power to heal, to create, made more powerful by the crystal I wield, and the powers I received from my guardians upon their death. In the beginning, I was not made to be a fighter. It just, ended up that way. Chaos is my polar opposite. He can create, but he cannot heal, in this we are opposites. His powers are dark. They warp everything they touch. His most powerful power, is the ability to take the aura of the darkness around him, and make it his own. You must not fret, or fear when he is near. No matter the circumstance. You'll only serve to give him power he can use against you. As he did with my guardians three millenia ago, and myself, in the moments before my arrival here."

"It seems like you fear him." Eighteen said, and she knew there was no malice in the statement. She paused. It was hard question to answer. Did she?

"Not him. No. But I fear what he can do. He has no soul to speak of." She brushed at Mirai's tail idly, as it had wrapped around her upper thigh, felt him shiver behind her, and took another slow sip of her wine. It was making her feel fuzzy already. "It matters little though. Because I will not make the same mistakes." She looked up at the crowd in front of her, eyes hard. "I thought to seal Chaos away, three millenia ago. To teach him patience, and give him a chance to reform. It only served to help his hatred grow. When he escaped, he wasted no time in destroying my home world. After that, he fed off the fear and despair of my loss. If the fates had not intervened to bring me here, you would have instead seen me chained at his side when he came for this world."

"Chained?" Goku asked, and she nodded, taking another sip of wine.

"Chaos lives for my despair, more than any other. He knows seeing life destroyed hurts me. I feed off of life. Off of love, and joy. When there is none. I am weak. He would have overpowered me easily in my last moments. And once in his grasp, it is hard to break free. Human hosts with Chaos inside them die unbearably quickly. But I would have lived until he saw fit. One cannot die without the other. Goddess knows I've tried." She traced the fading scar on her chest absent-mindedly, and felt Mirai tense. She stroked his tail to calm him, and it worked so well he almost purred. "It is why this time, I must kill him, and not fear following him." Mirai was too distracted by her touch to argue, but Gohan questioned her.

"Must you really die too?"

"There is no other way." She said softly. "We are two halves of one whole. I cannot exist without him. Nor can he exist without me. If you wondered about my tendencies for bodily harm... you know now, why I did what I did. I sought to keep the battle away from your world. But Chaos will come, regardless. Mirai tells me you all have great power. It will be needed soon. He grows closer to finding his way to me every moment."

She felt Mirai move forward, and could tell he delighted in making her shiver as his breath ghosted over her neck. But he did not speak, just hovered, his chest pressed so tightly to her back that his heat was her own in the cool darkness. "How strong is he?" Goku asked, and she smiled wryly.

"As strong as I am." She took another sip of wine, and turned her eyes to Vegeta when she was done, because she had already expected him to speak.

"And just how strong is that Onna?" He challenged. She smirked because he reminded her of Haruka. Hard on the edges, but smooth underneath.

"Tomorrow, when the wine is gone from my veins, I will show you." She said softly. "I am not as strong here, away from him. But I can show you what to look out for. We have some time." She closed her eyes, and sighed, leaning back into Mirai.

"We're stronger than you think we are." Chibi said smugly, and she smiled, opening her eyes to set them on him.

"Of that I have no doubt, little Prince." She said. And she meant it. He looked puffed and proud, and she let him have the moment. He was young. Hell, they were all young compared to her. But they had all seen their share of battle. Tomorrow, she was show them just how hard this battle in particular, was going to be. If they insisted on a fight, they needed to be prepared.

...

"She will fight." The smallest one said, with a smile on her face.

"Yes," Her sister said, sounding bored. "But will she win?"

"As if you care." The third woman said.

"I care if it stays interesting." The second sister said. "So far she has not disappointed, I suppose." She still sounded slightly bored, but the smallest smiled at her, clearly delighted that her sister was not as cruel and cynical as ususal.

"She is quite a being." The third sister said, brushing her long hair from her eyes. "As is Chaos. He has already found a way to her. it is a matter of time until the fireworks start."

"I tire of waiting." The second sister said, flipping her hair back and rolling over in mid-air. She was lying down, but nothing but dark smoke supported her tiny frame.

"How can you tire of waiting?" The smallest asked, curiously. "It is all we do."

The second sister looked like she was about to start a fight, so the third sister, tallest of the three, raised her hand. "Peace. Listen to your younger sister. She is right. We wait."

The second sister huffed, but stayed quiet as they all focused their eyes on the image of the silver-haired woman and the group surrounding her.

...

The wine had made her mind fuzzy, though she'd only had two glasses. Videl, Bulma, Chi-Chi and Eighteen had retired with the little ones an hour ago, after an amusing fight with Goten and Chibi about bedtime. So she sat in the starlight with the male Z-warriors, the bottle of wine empty. There had been mindless chatter for awhile, but now they sat in comfortable silence. She broke it because there was a question she had to have answered.

"Why does your Earth have no moon?" Goku laughed, and rubbed the back of his head. She was beginning to see this was a habit of his, and he used it in many instances. He was a simple and amusing man, but his heart, it was made of pure gold. The strength of his love rivaled hers at her best, she could tell.

"Saiyans transform at the full moon, into Oozaru's. The beast is inside us always, but only those who have tails transform." He said, staring up at the space where the moon had once been. "They are easier to control day by day, but when we transform happens, we are usually mindless, and very destructive. Piccolo destroyed the moon when Gohan was little, to prevent disaster." Gohan looked embarrassed in the slightest, staring up at the same spot his Father was.

"The headlines in the newspaper the next day were ridiculous, if I remember correctly." He laughed. "Why do you ask Serenity?" She shrugged, her chest warm from the wine, and her back warm from her position. Mirai's chest was still to her back, his tail wrapped lazily about her waist, flicking every once in awhile. If their sudden closeness was weird, no one seemed to want to comment upon it. To be honest, she didn't know what 'this' was. She told herself it was nothing more than one friend comforting another, but she found herself inexplicably drawn to this man she barely knew.

"I was born on the moon." She said softly, and she felt Mirai's fingers trails through the length of her hair as she spoke, goosebumps raising on her arms. "Four millenia ago, in my first life. It's strange not to see it, is all."

"Do you miss it?" Mirai mumbled. She turned her head up to look at him. He'd had much more wine than she, and his eyes were heavy lidded.

"Not anymore." She said, quietly. "The memories that come with seeing it... are not as pleasant as they used to be. None of my memories are as pleasant as they used to be." He brushed his fingers through her hair again, and she sighed. When he was done, they settled on her shoulders.

"When will Chaos arrive?" Vegeta asked, his arms crossed and his voice languid. His legs were perched up on a wooden ottoman, and he wore a sleeveless white tee over black spandex. Goku, who sported a gi that was orange in color, looked just as interested, beside him. He'd had no wine, but he looked sleepy nonetheless.

"When he is close, I can see him, and he can see me. It's hard to explain. We can both hide our exact locations, if we concentrate, but we are aware of each other as a constant. He is nowhere near this dimension yet. Or I would feel him. Though he delights in reaching out to me in the dark." She shivered, and Mirai rubbed the chill from her arms.

"Is his power unreadable, like yours?" Gohan asked. When she looked confused, he elaborated. "We can all read energy signals. But yours... it's as if you don't exist at all. Even humans have a low energy signal as a base. You have nothing at all. If I hadn't seen you save Pan..." He trailed off, and she smiled.

"I am the absence of dark, and he, the absence of light. I can only imagine he would be as hard for you to find as I am." She said. "He is vicious. And he does not play by the rules. When he arrives, we must move everyone who cannot fight. It is a favorite tactic of his to try to break the will of his opponent."

"So he'd attack our wives, our children?" Gohan asked, and she nodded.

"Without thought. But is that any different from any enemy?" She sighed. "He made me kill my court, three millenia ago. All it took was a little persuasion and a push of his dark power to put them in-between me and saving our world. I had to drive a sword through little Hotaru's heart with these two hands." She raised them to her face, and the voice of her smallest senshi was in her ears. 'I forgive you...' "Sometimes I can still hear her screaming." She said this solemnly, and her mood broadcast like a wave, taking the entire mood of the group down a notch. She imagined they all knew this feeling. They were seasoned warriors. She could see it in the way they carried themselves. Mirai leaned into her, and she was glad of his warmth.

"We should call it a night." Krillen said, standing and stretching. Gohan did the same, and agreed aloud.

"Tomorrow we train."

"As long as my wretched Onna fixes the gravity machine." Vegeta grumbled, standing too. Goku stood with him, looking amused.

"You should speak to Dende too." He said, looking at her, and she nodded.

"I will. We have many things to discuss. But Krillen is right. Sleep is best, for now." Slowly, the men carried themselves back towards the front door of Capsule Corp, with grunts and waves goodbye. She was about to move too, until she found that Mirai's hands held her fast to the chair they shared.

"Stay." He grumbled softly, and she smiled softly up at him.

"You're drunk." She said, and he smirked down at her, melting her heart. She realized suddenly, that she had not felt like this in three millenia. Not since the last time Mamoru had smiled. 'You deserve to love again...' His voice whispered in her ear, and she shook her head to rid herself of the horrible feeling in her chest. It did not work. She moved slowly, turning herself so that her knees were between Mirai's and her hands were laid on his broad, chiseled chest. He was staring at her, and she could feel the blush color her cheeks. The wine was still making her fuzzy. "I can't do this..." She whispered, but the confident smirk had not left the half-saiyan's face. He searched her eyes, and his hands moved up, one resting on her upper-arm, the other at the back of her neck.

"Why not?" She searched his eyes now, but they gave little away. He was so close. He smelled like warm earth and pine. She could feel him pulling her towards him, his eyes focused not on hers, but on her pale pink lips. He had pulled her so close that she could feel his warm breath on her lips.

"Mirai." She whispered, and he smirked more at the sound of his name from her lips. "I won't be here for much longer..." A growl came from his throat, and his tail whipped around her waist with such ferocity that it moved her closer still, to his face.

"Not if I can help it." He growled softly. His eyes flickered up to hers, and she was caught in his stare. There was something beneath his eyes. Something she didn't understand. Something animalistic.

"I cannot promise you forever." She whispered again, and her heart thumped so loud in her chest she knew he could hear it.

"Then promise me right now." He growled quietly, and she did not stop him when he finally pulled her lips to his, and claimed them so ferociously that she was sure she would bruise. She returned the kiss with a want like she had never felt. A need that burned deep in her veins. When they finally broke, she gasped for her breath, and let him search her eyes. He looked satisfied, if mildly surprised.

"Your eyes." He said, his voice husky and his breath as short as hers.

"I know." She whispered back, pushing her forehead up against his. Because she could tell without having to look, that they had returned to the bright silver they had been so many millenia ago. "Take me to bed Mirai."

He did not speak, but smirked, and scooped her up into his arms, standing easily with her weight. She curled into him as he carried her to the front door and up the stairs, turning down the long hallway to his room. In the back of her head beneath the static, was a soft whisper, and she was amazed to find it did not hurt to hear. 'Be happy Mama.' It was gone as soon as it came, and she smiled wistfully as the door to Mirai's room slid open, content.

...

Her skin was soft and smooth beneath his calloused fingers, and he reveled in her gasp as they slid beneath her shirt. He hovered over her on the bed, each knee placed at either side of her hips. His hair had come undone from it's ponytail, and hung like a curtain over his face, and he growled deep in his throat in content when her hand raised up to push it from her way. She held the side of his face, her fingers ghosting over his temple, and back down his cheek. He felt her tremble beneath him, and the beast inside him, the beast that wanted, that craved, delighted in it. He was seeing her as if through a haze, and it took strength to calm himself enough to speak.

"I want..." He closed his eyes to clear the haze, though it did little, and opened them again to stare into her eyes. They were so bright silver they shone. She looked apprehensive, hesitant, maybe even scared. The beast in him roared, delighted. "I need you to be sure." She searched his eyes, and he let her, fighting at stemming the want in his chest. "I need you to understand."

He growled, and she whimpered, and it nearly drove him insane. He drove his face into her neck, inhaling so deeply that it was audible. "Mirai?" She questioned softly. He took another deep breath, and ripped himself from her, looking down on her again.

"Saiyans... we have a beast inside. Goku explained before. We call them Oozarus. Their influence is strong. They are the rage in us. The fear. The desire." He ended in a growl, his hand moving further up her shirt, his fingers tracing patterns on the smooth skin just beneath her breasts. "We are prone to wandering as most species are in the beginning, but when our beast calls to someone, we are compelled to take them. By force, if we must. The want is so strong..." He growled, and closed his eyes again, trying to clear the haze. The alcohol was not helping. His beast had never been so insistent. His Father had told him, one night after they had trained to near exhaustion, that this would come. As it had when he had laid eyes on his mother. He was glad of the warning. In his time, there had been no planet born Saiyan to explain the rage inside him. The darkness that lingered just beneath the surface. He had not anticipated it would be so strong. It was taking all his power not to just rip the clothes from her and claim her as his. He was startled as her other hand came to his face, and he leaned into her touch, keeping his eyes closed. Her caress almost sent him over the edge, but he fought for control. "I don't want to take you by force Serenity." It was a whisper, because he did not trust his voice.

"Trunks..." She whispered, and her voice was like silk shifting through the air. "I have drifted alone for so long, that I forgot what it felt like to be so close to someone. And I am scared." He nodded his head, because he could not open his eyes, and sunk down so that he was pressed against her. He moved his hand from the smooth skin of her stomach, and instead moved them into her hair, breathing her in slowly. His forehead was pressed to hers, and they were so close his beast was roaring for fulfillment. "I'm not finished." She whispered in his ear, so softly that his muscles tensed in anticipation. "I have never wanted anything, I think, for myself. Not like I want you." His eyes snapped open, and he knew she could see the want in them, the desire, the rage of his beast being contained. She continued with her eyes locked on his. And he knew she needed him to understand too. "I fear your destruction. I, for the first time in three millenia, fear mine. Because I don't want to lose this."

"You don't have to fear." He growled, because the beast knew she was giving in, and he was insistent, a roaring in the back of his brain. "Your death can't be the only way out."

"What if it is?" She whispered, and he curled his fingers in her hair, gripping it so tightly that she gasped, and her breath ghosted over his lips. He could not hold for much longer. He needed to make her his.

"I will protect you, and this world with everything I have." He growled. "Believe in me Serenity. Believe in yourself." She searched his eyes, one last time, and then it was as if something had snapped. It was an almost audible sound, like breaking glass, that echoed in the back of his head. It seemed, it was something Serenity could hear too, for her eyes went wide. And then the roar of his beast was so loud he could hear nothing else. He smirked down at her, and pressed his lips to hers in a kiss that could have melted the polar caps. His beast bellowed in delight as she succumbed to him, putty in his hands. She was his.

...

"Something has changed." The eldest said, narrowing her eyes at the image before her. She could not glean exactly what it was, but for a moment, the image before them, usually so clear, had fogged.

"But what?" The youngest asked, and she watched as the eldest furrowed her brow, concentrating, then sighed.

"I dont know." she said, which was so unusual both sisters looked at her with wide and curious eyes. "But things have gone this way more than once with our dear light of the world."

"At least its interesting." Her cynical sister said, smirking. "I quite like these Saiyans."

" You should." The youngest said, brushing her fingers through her pure white hair. "You created them." Her sister smirked deeper.

"Ah, I suppose I did." She said. "This one though, he is special." The image of Mirai got larger as she waved her hand, and she studied his face. "A dimension crosser, like our light. This should prove to get more interesting indeed."

"I'm glad you are entertained." The eldest said. "Look, Chaos has found his way. Cunning thing that he is." Another image popped up in front of them, this one of the stunningly beautiful man they'd created. His servant bowed before him, as he readied his power to open the portal of dimensions.

"My he's pretty." The youngest said.

"Yes. The dark can be a lovely thing, when it wants to be."

...

"I'm ready Master." Hanna stood before him, and he surveyed her with eyes that were delighted. She was practically glowing with the power he had pushed upon her, her black hair gleaming as it settled over her shoulders in soft waves. Her red eyes were solid and determined.

"Yes Hanna." He said. "You are." He raised his hands, and he could feel the power building there. He'd had to wait nearly three days to replenish the energy he needed. But it would be simple now. As long as Hanna survived the choppy ride through dimensions. This was a power that didn't come as easily to him as it did to his dear Queen, as much as he loathed to admit it. Her image flashed in his mind, and he smirked at the pleasing feeling in his chest. She was such a beauty, and she'd be his soon enough. He could feel her presence. Could finally glean exactly which dimension the fates had dropped her in.

He concentrated, and carved the path that his servant would take, through six dimensions. Then the wind started, and the portal opened like a zipper in the air in front of him. He nodded to Hanna, and she jumped through, spiraling into the darkness. As soon as he could see her no more, the portal snapped shut, and audible sound echoing off the walls of his Throne room. He fell back into his Throne, slumped forward from the exhaustion, and closed his eyes. He had just enough energy left to reach her. To taunt her.

It was like a spiral, a whoosh that almost gave him vertigo, but then he could see her. She stared at him with eyes of pure silver, and he smirked. She'd been waiting.

_ "You've opened the portal." _She said, and he nodded. _"You come to your death Chaos. I will not back down this time."_

_ "Ah, I see you've made friends."_ He said smugly, for though he could not see her surroundings, he could hear the thump of a heartbeat beside hers. _"A man perhaps? You know I think I'll kill him first. Just like I killed your dear King."_ He expected her to bristle, but was disappointed when she merely smirked back.

_ "Over my dead body." _She shifted in the space between them, and he was surprised when she was suddenly before him, her eyes clear and determined, her stance poised and royal. Her breath ghosted over his cheek when she spoke. _"And you can bet on that." _Then she pushed him away, and he was shot back to his tired body upon his throne. There were soft hands on his face, and he looked up into crystal blue eyes.

"Merci." He said, and it cam out so softly he surprised himself. His favorite slave smiled.

"Come Master." She said, letting him throw an arm over her shoulder and helping him down the crude stairs that led to his throne. "To bed."

...

_**Chapter Six, Finito. So Trunks and our lovely Serenity have finally gone to bed. But what hope does their relationship have with Chaos on the way, and the threat of her death looming? With the Saiyan Prince of the future determined to find a way to keep her, and Serenity determined to stop Chaos... be it even with her own life... how happy can the ending of thsi story be? It's not over yet. Stay tuned for the next chapter of The Only Way Out. Coming soon. :)**_


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